N 136729
description of farmer oak  an incident
when farmer oak smiled the corners of his mouth
spread till they were within an unimportant distance of
his ears his eyes were reduced to chinks and diverging
wrinkles appeared round them extending upon his
countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of
the rising sun
his christian name was gabriel and on working
days he was a young man of sound judgment easy
motions proper dress and general good character on
sundays he was a man of misty views rather given to
postponing and hampered by his best clothes and
umbrella  upon the whole one who felt himself to
occupy morally that vast middle space of laodicean
neutrality which lay between the communion people
of the parish and the drunken section  that is he went
to church but yawned privately by the time the con
gegation reached the nicene creed and thought of
what there would be for dinner when he meant to be
listening to the sermon or to state his character as
it stood in the scale of public opinion when his friends
and critics were in tantrums he was considered rather a
bad man  when they were pleased he was rather a good
man  when they were neither he was a man whose
moral colour was a kind of pepperandsalt mixture
since he lived six times as many workingdays as
sundays oaks appearance in his old clothes was most
peculiarly his own  the mental picture formed by his
neighbours in imagining him being always dressed in
that way he wore a lowcrowned felt hat spread out
at the base by tight jamming upon the head for security
in high winds and a coat like dr johnsons  his lower
extremities being encased in ordinary leather leggings
and boots emphatically large affording to each foot a
roomy apartment so constructed that any wearer might
stand in a river all day long and know nothing of
damp  their maker being a conscientious man who
endeavoured to compensate for any weakness in his cut
by unstinted dimension and solidity
mr oak carried about him by way of watch
what may be called a small silver clock in other
words it was a watch as to shape and intention and
a small clock as to size this instrument being several
years older than oaks grandfather had the peculiarity
of going either too fast or not at all the smaller
of its hands too occasionally slipped round on the
pivot and thus though the minutes were told with
precision nobody could be quite certain of the hour
they belonged to the stopping peculiarity of his
watch oak remedied by thumps and shakes and he
escaped any evil consequences from the other two
defects by constant comparisons with and observations
of the sun and stars and by pressing his face close
to the glass of his neighbours windows till he could
discern the hour marked by the greenfaced timekeepers
within it may be mentioned that oaks fob being
difficult of access by reason of its somewhat high
situation in the waistband of his trousers which also
lay at a remote height under his waistcoat the watch
was as a necessity pulled out by throwing the body to
oneside compressing the mouth and face to a mere
mass of ruddy flesh on account of the exertion and
drawing up the watch by its chain like a bucket from a
well
but some thoughtfull persons who had seen him
walking across one of his fields on a certain december
morning  sunny and exceedingly mild  might have
regarded gabriel oak in other aspects than these in
his face one might notice that many of the hues and
curves of youth had tarried on to manhood there even
remained in his remoter crannies some relics of the boy
his height and breadth would have been sufficient to
make his presence imposing had they been exhibited
with due consideration but there is a way some men
have rural and urban alike for which the mind is more
responsible than flesh and sinew  it is a way of curtail
ing their dimensions by their manner of showing them
and from a quiet modesty that would have become a
vestal which seemed continually to impress upon him
that he had no great claim on the worlds room oak
walked unassumingly and with a faintly perceptible
bend yet distinct from a bowing of the shoulders
this may be said to be a defect in an individual if he
depends for his valuation more upon his appearance
than upon his capacity to wear well which oak did not
he had just reached the time of life at which  young
is ceasing to be the prefix of man  in speaking of one
he was at the brightest period of masculine growth
for his intellect and his emotions were clearly separated 
he had passed the time during which the influence of
youth indiscriminately mingles them in the character
of impulse and he had not yet arrived at the stage
wherein they become united again in the character of
prejudice by the influence of a wife and family in
short he was twentyeight and a bachelor
the field he was in this morning sloped to a
ridge called norcombe hill through a spur of this
hill ran the highway between emminster and chalk
newton casually glancing over the hedge oak saw
coming down the incline before him an ornamental
spring waggon painted yellow and gaily marked
drawn by two horses a waggoner walking alongside
bearing a whip perpendicularly the waggon was
laden with household goods and window plants and
on the apex of the whole sat a woman youngand
attractive gabriel had not beheld the sight for more
than half a minute when the vehicle was brought to a
standstill just beneath his eyes
 the tailboard of the waggon is gone miss said the
waggoner
then i heard it fall said the girl in a soft though
not particularly low voice i heard a noise i could
not account for when we were coming up the hill
ill run back 
 do she answered 
the sensible horses stood  perfectly still and the
waggoners steps sank fainter and fainter in the distance
the girl on the summit of the load sat motionless
surrounded by tables and chairs with their legs upwards
backed by an oak settle and ornamented in front by
pots of geraniums myrtles and cactuses together with
a caged canary  all probably from the windows of the
house just vacated there was also a cat in a willow
basket from the partlyopened lid of which she gazed
with halfclosed eyes and affectionatelysurveyed the
small birds around
the handsome girl waited for some time idly in her
place and the only sound heard in the stillnesswas the
hopping of the canary upand down the perches of its
prison then she looked attentively downwards it
was not at the bird nor at the cat it was at an oblong
package tied in paper and lying between them she
turned her head to learn if the waggoner were coming
he was not yet in sight and hereyes crept back to
the package her thoughts seeming to run upon what
was inside it at length she drew the article into her
lap and untied the paper covering a small swing
lookingglass was disclosed in which she proceeded to
survey herself attentively she parted her lips and
smiled
it was a fine morning and the sun lighted up to a
scarlet glow the crimson jacket she wore and painted
a soft lustre upon her bright face and dark hair the
myrtles geraniums and cactuses packed around her
were fresh and green and at such a leafless season they
invested the whole concern of horses waggon furniture
and girl with a peculiar vernal charm what possessed
her to indulge in such a performance in the sight of the
sparrows blackbirds and unperceived farmer who were
alone its spectators  whether the smile began as a
factitious one to test her capacity in that art  nobody
knows  it ended certainly in a real smile she blushed
at herself and seeing her reflection blush blushed the
more
the change from the customary spot and necessary
occasion of such an act  from the dressing hour in a
bedroom to a time of travelling out of doors  lent to
the idle deed a novelty it did not intrinsically possess
the picture was a delicate one womans prescriptive
infirmity had stalked into the sunlight which had
clothed it in the freshness of an originality a
cynical inference was irresistitle by gabriel oak as he
regarded the scene generous though he fain would have
been there was no necessity whatever for her looking
in the glass she did not adjust her hat or pat her
hair or press a dimple into shape or do one thing to
signify that any such intention had been her motive in
taking up the glass she simply observed herself as a
fair product of nature in the feminine kind her thoughts
seeming to glide into faroff though likely dramas in
which men would play a part  vistas of probable
triumphs  the smiles being of a phase suggesting that
hearts were imagined as lost and won still this was
but conjecture and the whole series of actions was so
idly put forth as to make it rash to assert that intention
had any part in them at all
the waggoners steps were heard returning she
put the glass in the paper and the whole again into its
place
when the waggon had passed on gabriel withdrew
from his point of espial and descending into the road
followed the vehicle to the turnpikegate some way
beyond the bottom of the hill where the object of his
contemplation now halted for the payment of toll about
twenty steps still remained between him and the gate
when he heard a dispute lt was a difference con
cerning twopence between the persons with the waggon
and the man at the tollbar
 misesss niece is upon the top of the things and
she says thats enough that ive offered ye you great
miser and she wont pay any more these were the
waggoners words
very well  then misesss niece cant pass said the
turnpikekeeper closing the gate
oak looked from one to the other of the disputants
and fell into a reverie there was something in the
tone of twopence remarkably insignificant threepence
had a definite value as money  it was an appreciable
infringement on a days wages and as such a higgling
matter  but twopence     here he said stepping
forward and handing twopence to the gatekeeper  let
the young woman pass he looked up at her then
she heard his words and looked down
gabriels features adhered throughout their form so
exactly to the middle line between the beauty of st
john and the ugliness of judas iscariot as represented
in a window of the church he attended that not a single
lineament could be selected and called worthy either of
distinction or notoriety the redjacketed and dark
haired maiden seemed to think so too for she carelessly
glanced over him and told her man to drive on she
might have looked her thanks to gabriel on a minute
scale but she did not speak them more probably she
felt none for in gaining her a passage he had lost her
her point and we know how women take a favour of
that kind
the gatekeeper surveyed the retreating vehicle
 thats a handsome maid  he said to oak
 but she has her faults said gabriel
 true farmer 
and the greatest of them is  well what it is
always
 beating people down  ay tis so
o no
 what then  
gabriel perhaps a little piqued by the comely
travellers indifference glanced back to where he had
witnessed her performance over the hedge and said
 vanity
night  the flock  an inierior  another interior
it was nearly midnight on the eve of st thomass the
shortest day in the year a desolating wind wandered
from the north over the hill whereon oak had watched
the yellow waggon and its occupant in the sunshine of
a few days earlier
  norcombe hill  not far from lonely tollerdown
  was one of the spots which suggest to a passerby
that he is in the presence of a shape approaching the
indestructible as nearly as any to be found on earth
it was a featureless convexity of chalk and soil  an
ordinary specimen of those smoothlyoutlined protuber
ances of the globe which may remain undisturbed on
some great day of confusion when far grander heights
and dizzy granite precipices topple down
the hill was covered on its northern side by an
ancient and decaying plantation of beeches whose
upper verge formed a line over the crest fringing its
arched curve against the sky like a mane tonight
these trees sheltered the southern slope from the keenest
blasts which smote the wood and floundered through
it with a sound as of grumbling or gushed over its
crowning boughs in a weakened moan the dry leaves
in the ditch simmered and boiled in the same breezes
a tongue of air occasionally ferreting out a few and
sending them spinning across the grass a group or
two of the latest in date amongst the dead multitude
had remained till this very midwinter time on the twigs
which bore them and in falling rattled against the trunks
with smart taps
betwenne this halfwooded half naked hill and the
vague still horizon that its summit indistinctly com
manded was a mysterious sheet of fathomless shade
  the sounds from which suggested that what it con
cealed bore some reduced resemblance to features here
the thin grasses more or less coating the hill were
touched by the wind in breezes of differing powers and
almost of differing natures  one rubbing the blades
heavily another raking them piercingly another brushing
them like a soft broom the instinctive act of human
kind was to stand and listen and learn how the trees
to each other in the regular antiphonies of a cathedral
choir how hedges and other shapes to leeward them
caught the note lowering it to the tenderest sob and
how the hurrying gust then plunged into the south to
be heard no more
the sky was clear  remarkably clear  and the
twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of
one body timed by a common pulse the north star
was directly in the winds eye and since evening the
bear had swung round it outwardly to the east till he
was now at a right angle with the meridian a
difference of colour in the stars  oftener read of than
seen in englandwas really perceptible here the
sovereign brilliancy of sirius pierced the eye with a steely
glitter the star called capella was yellow aldebaran and
betelgueux shone with a fiery red
to persons standing alone on a hill during a clear
midnight such as this the roll of the world eastward is
almost a palpable movement the sensation may be
caused by the panoramic glide of the stars past earthly
objects which is perceptible in a few minutes of still
ness or by the better outlook upon space that a hill
affords or by the wind or by the solitude  but whatever
be its origin the impression of riding along is vivid and
abiding the poetry of motion is a phrase much in
use and to enjoy the epic form of that gratification it
is necessary to stand on a hill at a small hour of the
night and having first expanded with a sense of differ
ence from the mass of civilised mankind who are
dreamwrapt and disregardful of all such proceedings at
this time long and quietly watch your stately progress
through the stars after such a nocturnal reconnoitre
it is hard to get back to earth and to believe that the
consciousness of such majestic speeding is derived from
a tiny human frame
suddenly an unexpected series of sounds began to
be heard
in this place up against the sky they had a
clearness which was to be found nowhere in the wind
and a sequence which was to be found nowhere in
nature they were the notes of farmer oaks flute
the tune was not floating unhindered into the open
air  it seemed muffled in some way and was altogether
too curtailed in power to spread high or wide it came
from the direction of a small dark object under the
plantation hedge  a shepherds hut  now presenting
an outline to which an uninitiated person might have
been puzzled to attach either meaning or use
the image as a whole was that of a small noahs
ark on a small ararat allowing the traditionary outlines
and general form of the ark which are followed by toy
makers  and by these means are established in mens
imaginations among their firmest because earliest im
pressions  to pass as an approximate pattern the
hut stood on little wheels which raised its floor about a
foot from the ground such shepherds huts are dragged
into the fields when the lambing season comes on to
shelter the shepherd in his enforced nightly attendance
it was only latterly that people had begun to call
gabriel farmer oak during the twelvemonth pre
ceding this time he had been enabled by sustained
efforts of industry and chronic good spirits to lease the
small shepp farm of which norcombe hill was a portion
and stock it with two hundred sheep previously he
had been a bailiff for a short time and earlier still a
shepherd only having from his childhood assisted his
father in tending the floeks of large proprietors till old
gabriel sank to rest
this venture unaided and alone into the paths of
farming as master and not as man with an advance of
sheep not yet paid for was a critical juncture with
gabriel oak and he recognised his position clearly
the first movement in his new progress was the lambing
of his ewes and sheep having been his speciality from
his youth he wisely refrained from deputing  the task
of tending them at this season to a hireling or a novice
the wind continued to beatabout the corners of the
hut but the fluteplaying ceased a rectangular space
of light
appeared in the side of the hut and in the
opening the outline of farmer oaks figure he carried
a lantern in his hand and closing the door behind him
came forward and busied himself about this nook of the
field for nearly twenty minutes the lantern light appear
ing and disappearing here and there and brightening
him or darkening him as he stood before or behind it
oaks motions though they had a quietenergy were
slow and their deliberateness accorded well with his
occupation fitness being the basis of beauty nobody
couldhave denied that his steady swings and turns
in and about the flock had elements of grace yet
although if occasion demanded he could do or think a
thing with as mercurial a dash as can the men of towns
who are more to the manner born his special power
morally physically and mentally was static owing
little or nothing to momentum as a rule
a close examination of the ground hereabout even
by the wan starlight only revealed how a portion of
what would have been casually called a wild slope had
been appropriated by farmer oak for his great purpose
this winter detached hurdles thatched with straw
were stuck into the ground at various scattered points
amid and under which the whitish forms of his meek
ewes moved and rustled the ring of the sheepbell
which had been silent during his absence recommenced
in tones that had more mellowness than clearness owing
to an increasing growth of surrounding wool this
continued till oak withdrew again from the flock he
   returned to the hut bringing in his arms a newborn
lamb consisting of four legs large enough for a full
grown sheep united by a seemingly inconsiderable mem
brane about half the substance of the legs collectively
which constituted the animals entire body just at present
the little speck of life he placed on a wisp of hay
before the small stove where a can of milk was simmer
ing oak extinguished the lantern by blowing into it
and then pinching the snuff the cot being lighted
by a candle suspended by a twisted wire a rather
hard couch formed of a few corn sacks thrown carelessly
down covered half the floor of this little
habitation and
here the young man stretched himself along loosened
his woollen cravat and closed his eyes in about the
time a person unaccustomed to bodily labour would have
decided upon which side to lie farmer oak was asleep
the inside of the hut as it now presented itself was
cosy and alluring and the scarlet handful of fire in
addition to the candle reflecting its own genial colour
upon whatever it could reach flung associations of
enjoyment even over utensils and tools in the corner
stood the sheepcrook and along a shelf at one side
were ranged bottles and canisters of the simple prepara
tions pertaining to ovine surgery and physic spirits of
wine turpentine tar magnesia ginger and castoroil
being the chief on a triangular shelf across the corner
stood bread bacon cheese and a cup for ale or cider
which was supplied from a flagon beneath beside the
provisions lay the flute whose notes had lately been
called forth by the lonely watcher to beguile a tedious
hour the house was ventilated by two round holes
like the lights of a ships cabin with wood slides
the lamb revived by the warmth began to bleat
instant meaning as expected sounds will passing
from the profoundest sleep to the most alert wakefulness
with the same ease that had accompanied the reverse
operation he looked at his watch found that the hour
hand had shifted again put on his hat took the lamb
in his arms and carried it into the darkness after
placing the little creature with its mother he stood and
carefully examined the sky to ascertain the time of
night from the altitudes of the stars
the dogstar and aldebaran pointing to the restless
pleiades were halfway up the southern sky and between
them hung orion which gorgeous constellation never
burnt more vividly than now as it soared forth above
the rim of the landscape castor and pollux will
the northwest far away through the plantation vega
and cassiopeias chair stood daintily poised on the
uppermost boughs
one oclock said gabriel
being a man not without a frequent consciousness
that there was some charm in this life he led he stood
still after looking at the sky as a useful instrument and
regarded it in an appreciative spirit as a work of art
superlatively beautiful for a moment he seemed
impressed with the speaking loneliness of the scene or
rather with the complete abstraction from all its compass
of the sights and sounds of man human shapesinterferences
troubles and joys were all as if they were not and there
seemed to be on the shaded hemisphere of the globe no sentient being
save himself he could fancy them all gone round to the sunny side
  occupied this with eyes stretched afar oak gradually per
ceived that what he had previously taken to be a star low
down behind the outskirts of the plantation was in reality no
such thing it was an artificial light almost close at hand
 to find themselves utterly alone at night where company
is desirable and expected makes some people fearful but a
case more trying by far to the nerves is to discover some
mysterious companionship when intuition sensation memory
analogy testimony probability induction  every kind of
evidence in the logicians list  have united to persuade con
sciousness that it is quite in isolation
 farmer oak went towards the plantation and pushed
through its lower boughs to the windy side a dim mass under
the slope reminded him that a shed occupied a place here
the site being a cutting into the slope of the hill so that at
its back part the roof was almost level with the ground in
front it was formed of board nailed to posts and covered with
tar as apreservative through crevices in the roof and side
spread streaks and spots of light a combination of which made
the radiance that had attracted him oak stepped up behind
whereleaning down upon the roof and putting his eye close
to a hole he could see into the interior clearly
 the place contained two women and two cows by the side
of the latter a steaming branmash stood in a bucket one
of the women was past middle age her companion was ap
parently young and graceful he could form no decided opinion
upon her looks her position being almost beneath his eye so
that he saw her in a birdseye view as miltons satan first saw
paradise she wore no bonnet or het but had enveloped her
self in a large cloak which was carelessly flung over her head
as a covering
 there now well go home said the elder of the two resting
 her knuckles upon her hips and looking at their goingson as
a whole i do hope daisy will fetch round again now i have
never been more frightened in my life but i dont mind break
ing my rest if she recovers
 the young woman whose eyelids were apparently inclined
to fall together on the smallest provocation of silenceyawned
in sympathy
 i wish we were rich enough to pay a man to do these
things she said
 as we are not we must do them ourselves said the other
for you must help me if you stay
well my hat is gone however continued the younger it
went over the hedge i think the idea of such a slight wind
catching it
 the cow standing erect was of the devon breed and was
encased in a tight warm hide of rich indian red as absolutely
uniform from eyes to tail as if the animal had been dipped in
a dye of that colour her long back being mathematically level
the other was spottedgrey and white beside her oak now
noticed a little calf about a day old looking idiotically at
the two women which showed that it had not long been
accustomed to the phenomenon of eyesight and often turn
ing to the lantern which it apparently mistook for the moon
inherited instinct having as yet had little time for correction
by experience between the sheep and the cows lucina had
been busy on norcombe hill lately
 i think we had better send for some oatmeal said the
yes aunt and ill ride over for it as soon as it is
light 
 but theres no sidesaddle
i can ride on the other  trust me
oak upon hearing these remarks became more
curious to observe her features but this prospect being
denied him by the hooding efect of the cloak and by his
aerial position he felt himself drawing upon his fancy
for their details in making even horizontal and clear
inspections we colour and mould according to the warts
within us whatever our eyes bring in had gabriel
been able from the first to get a distinct view of her 
countenance his estimate of it as very handsome or
slightly so would have been as his soul required a
divinity at the moment or was ready supplied with one
having for some time known the want of a satisfactory
form to fill an increasing void within him his position
moreover affording the widest scope for his fancy he
painted her a beauty
by one of those whimsical coincidences in which
nature like a busy mother seems to spare a moment
from her unremitting labours to turn and make her
children smile the girl now dropped the cloak and
forth tumbled ropes of black hair over a red jacket
oak knew her instantly as the heroine of the yellow
waggon myrtles and lookingglass  prosily as the
woman who owed him twopence
they placed the calf beside its mother again took
up the lantern and went out the light sinking down
the hill till it was no more than a nebula gabriel
oak returned to his flock
a girl on horseback  conversation
the sluggish day began to break even its position
terrestrially is one of the elements of a new interest
and for no particular reason save that the incident of
the night had occurred there oak went again into
the plantation lingering and musing here he heard
the steps of a horse at the foot of the hill and soon
there appeared in view an auburn pony with a girl on
its back ascending by the path leading past the cattle
shed she was the young woman of the night before
gabriel instantly thought of the hat she had mentioned
as having lost in the wind possibly she had come to
look for it he hastily scanned the ditch and after
walking about ten yards along it found the hat among the
leaves gabriel took it in his hand and returned to his
hut here he ensconced himself and peeped through
the loophole in the direction of the riders approach
she came up and looked around  then on the other
side of the hedge gabriel was about to advance and
restore the missing article when an unexpected per
formance induced him to suspend the action for the
present the path after passing the cowshed bisected
the plantation it was not a bridlepath  merely a
pedestrians track and the boughs spread horizontally
at a height not greater than seven feet above the ground
which made it impossible to ride erect beneath them
the girl who wore no ridinghabit looked around for
a moment as if to assure herself that all humanity was
out of view then dexterously dropped backwards flat
upon the ponys back her head over its tail her feet
against its shoulders and her eyes to the sky the
rapidity of her glide into this position was that of a
kingfisher  its noiselessness that of a hawk gabriels
eyes had scarcely been able to follow her the tall lank
pony seemed used to such doings and ambled
along unconcerned thus she passed under the level boughs
the performer seemed quite at home anywhere
between a horses head and its tail and the necessity
for this abnormal attitude having ceased with the
passage of the plantation she began to adopt another
even more obviously convenient than the first she had
no sidesaddle and it was very apparent that a firm
seat upon the smooth leather beneath her was un
attainable sideways springing to her accustomed
perpendicular like a bowed sapling and satisfying her
self that nobody was in sight she seated herself in the
manner demanded by the saddle though hardly expected
of the woman and trotted off in the direction of tewnell
mill
oak was amused perhaps a little astonished and
hanging up the hat in his hut went again among his
ewes an hour passed the girl returned properly
seated now with a bag of bran in front of her on
nearing the cattleshed she was met by a boy bringing
a milkingpail who held the reins of the pony whilst
she slid off the boy led away the horse leaving the
pail with the young woman
soon soft spirts alternating with loud spirts came
in regular succession from within the shed the obvious
sounds of a person milking a cow gabriel took the
lost hat in his hand and waited beside the path she
would follow in leaving the hill
she came the pail in one hand hanging against her
knee the left arm was extended as a balance enough
of it being shown bare to make oak wish that the event
ha happened in the summer when the whole would
have been revealed there was a bright air and manner
about her now by which she seemed to imply that the
desirability of her existence could not be questioned
and this rather saucy assumption failed in being offensive
because a beholder felt it to be upon the whole true
like exceptional emphasis in the tone of a genius that
which would have made mediocrity ridiculous was an
addition to recognised power it was with some
surprise that she saw gabriels face rising like the
moon behind the hedge
the adjustment of the farmers hazy conceptions of
her
charms to the portrait of herself she now presented
him with was less a diminuition than a difference the
startingpoint selected by the judgment was her height
she seemed tall but the pail was a small one and the
hedge diminutive hence making allowance for error
by comparison with these she could have been not
above the height to be chosen by women as best all
features of consequence were severe and regular it
may have been observed by persons who go about the
shires with eyes for beauty that in englishwoman a
classicallyformed face is seldom found to be united
with a figure of the same pattern the highlyfinished
features being generally too large for the remainder of
the frame  that a graceful and proportionate figure of
eight heads usually goes off into random facial curves
without throwing a nymphean tissue over a milkmaid
let it be said that here criticism checked itself as out
of place and looked at her proportions with a long
consciousness of pleasure from the contours of her
figure in its upper part she must have had a beautiful
neek and shoulders  but since her infancy nobody had
ever seen them had she been put into a low dress
she would have run and thrust her head into a bush
yet she was not a shy girl by any means it was merely
her instinct to draw the line dividing the seen from the
unseen higher than they do it in towns
that the girls thoughts hovered about her face
and form as soon as she caught oaks eyes conning the
same page was natural and almost certain the self
consciousness shown would have been vanity if a little
more pronounced dignity if a little less rays of male
vision seem to have a tickling effect upon virgin faces
in rural districts  she brushed hers with her hand as if
gabriel had been irritating its pink surface by actual
touch and the free air of her previous movements was
reduced at the same time to a chastened phase of
itself yet it was the man who blushed the maid not
at all
 i found a hat said oak
 it is mine said she and from a sense of proportion
kept down to a small smile an inclination to laugh dis
tinctly  it flew away last night
 one oclock this morning  
 well  it was she was surprised  how did you
know   she said
 i was here
 you are farmer oak are you not  
 that or thereabouts im lately come to this place
 a large farm   she inquired casting her eyes round
and swinging back her hair which was black in the
shaded hollows of its mass but it being now an hour
past sunrise the rays touched its prominent curves with
a colour of their own
 no  not large about a hundred in speaking
of farms the word acres  is omitted by the natives by
analogy to such old expressions as a stag of ten
 i wanted my hat this morning she went on
had to ride to tewnell mill
yes you had
how do you know
i saw you
where she inquired a misgiving bringing every
muscle of her lineaments and frame to a standstill
heregoing through the plantation and all down
the hill said farmer oak with an aspect excessively
knowing with regard to some matter in his mind as he
gazed at a remote point in the direction named and then
turned back to meet his colloquists eyes
a perception caused him to withdraw his own eyes
from hers as suddenly as if he had been caught in a
theft recollection of the strange antics she had
indulged in when passing through the trees was suc
ceeded in the girl by a nettled palpitation and that by
a hot face it was a time to see a woman redden who
was not given to reddening s a rule not a point in
the milkmaid but was of the deepest rosecolour from
the maidens blush through all varieties of the provence
down to the crimson tuscany the countenance of oaks
acquaintance quickly graduated  whereupon he in con
siderateness turned away his head
the sympathetic man still looked the other way and
wondered when she would recover coolness sufficient to
justify him in facing her again he heard what seemed
to be the flitting of a
dead leaf upon the breeze and
looked she had gone away
with an air between that of tragedy and comedy 
gabriel returned to his work
five mornings and evenings passed the young
woman came regularly to milk the healthy cow or to
attend to the sick one but never allowed her vision to
stray in the direction of oaks person his want of
tact had deeply offended her  not by seeing what he
could not help but by letting her know that he had
seen it for as without law there is no sin without
eyes there is no indecorum and she appeared to feel
that gabriels espial had made her an indecorous woman
without her own connivance it was food for great regret
with him it was also a contretemps which touched into
life a latent heat he had experienced in that direction
the acquaintanceship might however have ended in
a slow forgetting but for an incident which occurred at
the end of the same week one afternoon it began to
freeze and the frost increased with evening which drew
on like a stealthy tightening of bonds it was a time
when in cottages the breath of the sleepers freezes to
the sheets when round the drawingroom fire of a
thickwalled mansion the sitters backs are cold even
whilst their faces are all aglow many a small bird went
to bed supperless that night among the bare boughs
as the milkinghour drew near oak kept his usual
watch upon the cowshed at last he felt cold and
shaking an extra quantity of bedding round the yeaning
ewes he entered the hut and heaped more fuel upon
the stove the wind came in at the bottom of the door
and to prevent it oak laid a sack there and wheeled the
cot round a little more to the south then the wind
spouted in at a ventilating hole  of which there was one
on each side of the hut
gabriel had always known that when the fire was
lighted and the door closed one of these must be kept
open  that chosen being always on the side away from
the wind closing the slide to windward he turned to
open the other on second  thoughts the farmer con
sidered that he would first sit down leaving both
closed for a minute or two till the temperature of the
hut was a little raised he sat down
his head began to ache in an unwonted manner and
fancying himself weary by reason of the broken rests of
the preceding nights oak decided to get up open the
slide and then allow himself to fall asleep he fell
asleep however without having performed the necessary
preliminary
how long he remained unconseious gabriel never
knew during the first stages of his return to percep
tion peculiar deeds seemed to be in course of enactment
his dog was howling his head was aching fearfully 
somebody was pulling him about hands were loosening
his neckerchief
on opening his eyes he found that evening had sunk
to dusk in a strange manner of unexpectedness the
young girl with the remarkably pleasant lips and white
teeth was beside him more than this  astonishingly
more  his head was upon her lap his face and neck
were disagreeably wet and her fingers were unbuttoning
his collar
whatever is the matter said oak vacantly
she seemed to experience mirth but of too insignifi
cant a kind to start enjoyment
nothing now she answered since you are not
dead it is a wonder you were notsuffocated in this
hut of yours
ah the hut   murmured gabriel i gave ten
pounds for that hut but ill sell it and sit under
thatched hurdles as they did in old times curl up
to sleep in a lock of straw it played me nearly the
same trick the other day   gabriel by way of emphasis
brought down his fist upon the floor
it was not exactly the fault of the hut she ob
served in a tone which showed her to be that novelty
among women  one who finished a thought before
beginning the sentence which was to convey it  you
should i think have considered and not have been so
foolish as to leave the slides closed
yes i suppose i should said oak absently he
was endeavouring to catch and appreciate the sensation
of being thus with her his head upon her dress before
the event passed on into the heap of bygone things
he wished she knew his impressions  but he would as
soon have thought of carrying an odour in a net as of
attempting to convey the intangibilities
of his feeling
in the coarse meshes of language so he remained
silent
she made him sit up and then oak began wiping
his face and shaking himself like a samson how
can i thank ee   he said at last gratefully some of the
natural rusty red having returned to his face
  oh never mind that said the girl smiling and
allowing her smile to hold good for gabriels next
remark whatever that might prove to be
how did you find me
i heard your dog howling and scratching at the
door of the hut when i came to the milking it was so
lucky daisys milking is almost over for the season and
 i shall not come here after this week or the next the
dog saw me and jumped over to me and laid hold of
my skirt i came across and looked round the hut the
very first thing to see if the slides were closed my
uncle has a hut like this one and i have heard him tell
his shepherd not to go to sleep without leaving a slide
open i opened the door and there you were like
dead i threw the milk over you as there was no
water forgetting it was warm and no use
i wonder if i should have died   gabriel said in a
low voice which was rather meant to travel back to
himself than to her
o no the girl replied she seemed to prefer a
less tragic probability  to have saved a man from death
involved talk that should harmonise with the dignity of
such a deed  and she shunned it
i believe you saved my life miss    i dont know
your name i know your aunts but not yours
 i would just as soon not tell it  rather not there
is no reason either why i should as you probably will
never have much to do with me
  still i should like to know
 you can inquire at my aunts  she will tell you
my name is gabriel oak
and mine isnt you seem fond of yours in
speaking it so decisively gabriel oak
 you see it is the only one i shall ever have and i
must make the most of it
 i always think mine sounds odd and disagreeable
i should think you might soon get a new one
mercy   how many opinions you keep about you
concerning other people gabriel oak
well missexcuse the wordsi thought you
would like them but i cant match you i know in
napping out my mind upon my tongue i never was
very clever in my inside but i thank you come
give me your hand
she hesitated somewhat disconcerted at oaks old
fashioned earnest conclusion to a dialogue lightly
carried onvery well she said and gave him her
hand compressing her lips to a demure impassivity
he held it but an instant and in his fear of being too
demonstrative swerved to the opposite extreme touching
her fingers with the lightness of a smallhearted person
 i am sorry he said the instant after
 what for
you may have it again if you like there it is
she gave him her hand again
oak held it longer this time  indeed curiously long
how soft it is  being winter time too  not chapped
or rough or anything he said
there  thats long enough said she though with
out pulling it away but i suppose you are thinking
you would like to kiss it you may if you want to
i wasnt thinking of any such thing said gabriel
simply  but i will
that you wont she snatched back her hand
gabriel felt himself guilty of another want of tact
now find out my name she said teasingly and
withdrew
gabriels resolve  the visit  the mistake
the only superiority in women that is tolerable to the
rival sex is as a rule that of the unconscious kind  but
a superiority which recognizes itself may sometimes
please by suggesting possibilities of capture to the
subordinated man
this wellfavoured and comely girl soon made appre
ciable inroads upon the emotional constitution of young
farmer oak
love being an extremely exacting usurer a sense of
exorbitant profit spiritually by an exchange of hearts
being at the bottom of pure passions as that of exorbi
tant profit bodily or materially is at the bottom of
those of lower atmosphere every morning oaks feelings
were as sensitive as the moneymarket in calculations
upon his chances his dog waited for his meals in a
way so like that in which oak waited for the girls
presence that the farmer was quite struck with the
resemblance felt it lowering and would not look at the
dog however he continued to watch through the
hedge for her regular coming and thus his sentiments
towards her were ideepened without any corresponding
effect being produced upon herself oak had nothing
finished and ready to say as yet and not being able
to frame love phrases which end where they begin 
passionate tales  
      full of sound and fury
    signifting nothing  
he said no word at all
by making inquiries he found that the girls name
was bathsheba everdene and that the cow would go
dry in about seven days he dreaded the eight day
at last the eighth day came the cow had ceased
to give milk for that year and bathsheba everdene
came up the hill no more gabriel had reached a
pitch of existence he never
could have anticipated a
short time before he liked saying bathsheba as a
private enjoyment instead of whistling turned over his
taste to black hair though he had sworn by brown ever
since he was a boy isolated himself till the space he
filled in a possible strength in an actual weakness marriage
transforms a distraction into a support the power of
which should be and happily often is in direct pro
portion to the degree of imbecility it supplants oak
began now to see light in this direction and said to
himself ill make her my wife or upon my soul i shall
be good for nothing  
all this while he was perplexing himself about an
errand on which he might consistently visit the cottage
of bathshebas aunt
he found his opportunity in the death of a ewe
mother of a living lamb on a day which had a
summer face and a winter constitutiona fine january
morning when there was just enough blue sky visible to
make cheerfullydisposed people wish for more and an
occasional gleam of silvery sunshine oak put the lamb
into a respectable sunday basket and stalked across the
fields to the house of mrs hurst the aunt  george
the dog walking behind with a countenance of great
concern at the serious turn pastoral affairs seemed to be
taking
gabriel had watched the blue woodsmoke curling
from the chimney with strange meditation at evening
he had fancifully traced it down the chimney to the
spot of its origin  seen the hearth and bathsheba
beside it  beside it in her outdoor dress for the
clothes she had worn on the hill were by association
equally with her person included in the compass of his
affection they seemed at this early time of his love a
necessary ingredient of the sweet mixture called bath
sheba everdene
he had made a toilet of a nicelyadjusted kind  of a
nature between the carefully neat and the carelessly
ornate  of a degree between finemarketday and wet
sunday selection he thoroughly cleaned his silver
watchchain with whiting put new lacing straps to his
boots looked to the brass eyeletholes
 went to the
inmost heart of the plantation for a new walkingstick
and trimmed it vigorously on his way back took a new
handkerchief from the bottom of his clothesbox put
on the light waistcoat patterned all over with sprigs
of an elegant flower uniting the beauties of both rose
and lily without the defects of either and used all the
hairoil he possessed upon his usually dry sandy and
inextricably curly hair till he had deepened it to a
splendidly novel colour between that of guano and
roman cement making it stick to his head like mace
round a nutmeg or wet seaweed round a boulder after
the ebb
nothing disturbed the stillness of the cottage save
 the chatter of a knot of sparrows on the eaves one
might fancy scandal and rumour to be no less the
staple topic of these little coteries on roofs than of
those under them it seemed that the omen was an
unpropitious one for as the rather untoward commence
ment of oaks overtures just as he arrived by the garden
gate he saw a cat inside going into various arched shapes
and fiendish convulsions at the sight of his dog george
the dog took no notice  for he had arrived at an age
at which all superfluous barking was cynically avoided
as a waste of breath  in fact he never barked even
at the sheep except to order when it was done with
an absolutely neutral countenance as a sort of com
minationservice which though offensive had to be
gone through once now and then to frighten the flock
for their own good
a voice came from behind some laurelbushes into
which the cat had run
poor dear did a nasty brute of a dog want to
kill it  did he poor dear 
i beg your pardon said oak to the voice but
george was walking on behind me with a temper as
mild as milk
almost before he had ceased speaking oak was
seized with a misgiving as to whose ear was the recipient
of his answer nobody appeared and he heard the
person retreat among the bushes
gabriel meditated and so deeply that he brought
small furrows into his forehead by sheer force of
reverie where the
issue of an interview is as likely
to be a vast change for the worse as for the better
any initial difference from expectation causes nipping
sensations of failure oak went up to the door a little
abashed  his mental rehearsal and the reality had had
no common grounds of opening
bathshebas aunt was indoors  will you tell miss
everdene that somebody would be glad to speak to
her said mr oak calling ones self merely some
body without giving a name is not to be taken as
an example of the illbreeding of the rural world it
springs from a refined modesty of which townspeople
with their cards and announcements have no notion
whatever
bathsheba was out the voice had evidently been
hers
 will you come in mr oak  
oh thank ee said gabriel following her to the
fireplace ive brought a lamb for miss everdene
i thought she might like one to rear girls do
 she might said mrs hurst musingly   though
shes only a visitor here if you will wait a minute
bathsheba will be in
 yes i will wait said gabriel sitting down  the
lamb isnt really the business i came about mrs hurst
in short i was going to ask her if shed like to be
married
and were you indeed 
 yes because if she would i should be very glad
to marry her dye know if shes got any other young
man hanging about her at all 
let me think said mrs hurst poking the fire
superfluously  yes  bless you ever so many young
men you see farmer oak shes so goodlooking and
an excellent scholar besides  she was going to be a
governess once you know only she was too wild not
that her young men ever come here  but lord in the
nature of women she must have a dozen  
 thats unfortunate said farmer oak contemplating
a crack in the stone floor with sorrow im only an
everyday sort of man and my only chance was in being
the first comer  well theres no use in my waiting
for that was all i came about so ill take myself off
homealong mrs hurst
when gabriel had gone about two hundred yards
along the
down he heard a hoihoi   uttered behind
him in a piping note of more treble quality than that
in which the exclamation usually embodies itself when
shouted across a field he looked round and saw a girl
racing after him waving a white handkerchief
oak stood still  and the runner drew nearer it was
bathsheba everdene gabriels colour deepened hers
was already deep not as it appeared from emotion
but from running
farmer oak  i   she said pausing for want of
breath pulling up in front of him with a slanted face
and putting her hand to her side
i have just called to see you  said gabriel pending
her further speech
yesi know that she said panting like a robin
her face red and moist from her exertions like a peony
petal before the sun dries off the dew i didnt know
you had come to ask to have me or i should have come
in from the garden instantly i ran after you to say 
that my aunt made a mistake in sending you away from
courting me      
gabriel expandedim sorry to have made you
run so fast my dear he said with a grateful sense of
favours to come wait a bit till youve found your
breath
  it was quite a mistakeaunts telling you i had
a young man already bathsheba went on  i havent
a sweetheart at all  and i never had one and i thought
that as times go with women it was such a pity to send
you away thinking that i had several
really and truly i am glad to hear that said 
farmer oak smiling one of his long special smiles and
blushing with gladness he held out his hand to take
hers which when she had eased her side by pressing
it there was prettily extended upon her bosom to still
her loudbeating heart directly he seized it she put
it behind her so that it slipped through his fingers like
an eel 
i have a nice snug little farm said gabriel with
half a degree less assurance than when he had seized
her hand
yes  you have
a man has advanced me money to begin with but
still it
will soon be paid off and though i am only an
everyday sort of man i have got on a little since i was
a boy gabriel uttered a little in a tone toshow
her that it was the complacent form of a great deal
he continued   when we be married i am quite sure
i can work twice as hard as i do now
 he went forward and stretched out his arm again
bathsheba had overtaken him at a point beside which
stood a low stunted holly bush now laden with red
berries seeing his advance take the form of an attitude
threatening a possible enclosure if not compression of
her person she edged off round the bush
 why farmer oak she said over the top looking
at him with rounded eyes i never said i was going to
marry you
 well  that is a tale   said oak  with dismay  to
run after anybody like this and then say you dont
want him  
what i meant to tell you was only this she said
eagerly and yet half conscious of the absurdity of the
position she had made for herself  that nobody has
got me yet as a sweetheart instead of my having a
dozen as my aunt said i hate to be thought mens
property in that way though possibly i shall be had
some day why if id wanted you i shouldnt have
run after you like this  twould havebeen the forwardest
thing  but there was no harm in hurrying to correct
a piece of false news that had been told you
oh no  no harm at all but there is such a thing
as being too generous in expressing a judgment impuls
ively and oak added with a more appreciative sense
of all the circumstances   well i am not quite certain
it was no harm
indeed i hadnt time to think before starting
whether i wanted to marry or not for youd have been
gone over the hill
 come said gabriel freshening again  think a
minute or two ill wait a while miss everdene will
you marry me do bathsheba i love you far more
than common
ill try to think she observed rather more timor
ously  if i can think out of doors my mind spreads
away so
but you can give a guess
then give me time bathsheba looked thought
fully into the distance away from the direction in which
gabriel stood
i can make you happy said he to the back of her
head across the bush you shallo have as piano in a
year or two  farmers wives are getting to have pianos
now   and ill practise up the flute right well to play
with you in the evenings
 yes  i should like that
and have one of those little tenpound gigs for
market  and nice flowers and birds  cocks and hens
i mean because they be useful continued gabriel
feeling balanced between poetry and practicality
i should like it very much
and a frame for cucumbers  like a gentlman and
lady
yes
and when the wedding was over wed have it put
in the newspaper list of marriages
 dearly i should like that  
and the babies in the births  every man jack of
em and at home by the fire whenever you look up
there i shall be  and whenever i look up there will
be you
wait wait and dont be improper 
her countenance fell and she was silent awhile
he regarded the red berries between them over and
over again to such an extent that holly seemed in
his after life to be a cypher signifying a proposal of
marriage bathsheba decisively turned to him
no tis no use she said i dont want to marry
you 
 try
i have tried hard all the time ive been thinking
for a marriage would be very nice in one sense
people would talk about me and think i had won my
battle and i should feel triumphant and all that
but a husband      
 well  
 why hed always be there as you say whenever
i looked up there hed be
 of course he would  i that is
 well what i mean is that i shouldnt mind being
a bride at a wedding if i could be one without having
a husband but since a woman cant show off in that
way by herself i shant marry  at least yet
 thats a terrible wooden story
at this criticism of her statement bathsheba made
an addition to her dignity by a slight sweep away
from him
upon my heart and soul i dont know what a
maid can say stupider than that said oak but
dearest he continued in a palliative voice dont be
like it  oak sighed a deep honest sigh  none the
less so in that being like the sigh of a pine plantation
it was rather noticeable as a disturbance of the atmo
sphere  why wont you have me   he appealed
creeping round the holly to reach her side
 i cannot she said retreating
but why  he persisted standing still at last in
despair of ever reaching her and facing over the
bush
 because i dont love you
 yes but    
she contracted a yawn to an inoffensive smallness
so that it was hardly illmannered at all i dont love
you she said
but i love you  and as for myself i am content
to be liked
 o mr oak  thats very fine  youd get to
despise me
never said mr oak so earnestly that he seemed
to be coming by the forceof his words straight
through the bush and into her arms i shall do one
thing in this life  one thing certain  that is love you
and long for you and keep wanting you till i die his
voice had a genuine pathos now and his large brown
hands perceptibly trembled
it seems dreadfully wrong not to have you when
you feel so much she said with a little distress and
looking hopeleely around for some means of escape
from her moral dilemma  how i wish i hadnt run
after you however she seemed to have a short cut
for getting back to cheerfulness and set her face to
signify archness it wouldnt do mr oak i want
somebody to tame me i am too independent  and
you would never be able to i know
oak cast his eyes down the field in a way implying
that it was useless to attempt argument
 mr oak she said with luminous distinctness and
common sense  you are better off than i i have
hardly a penny in the world  i am staying with my
aunt for my bare sustenance i am better educated
than you  and i dont love you a bit thats my side
of the case now yours you are a farmer just begin
ing and you ought in common prudence if you marry
at all which you should certainly not think of doing
at present to marry a woman with money who would
admiration
thats the very thing i had been thinking myself 
he naively said
farmer oak had oneandahalf christian character
istics too many to succeed with bathsheba  his humility
and a superfluous moiety of honesty bathsheba was
decidedly disconcerted
well then why did you come and disturb me
she said almost angrily if not quite an enlarging red
spot rising in each cheek
 i cant do what i think would be  would be    
 right  
 no  wise
 you have made an admission now mr oak she
exclaimed with even more hauteur and rocking her
head disdainfully after that do you think i could
marry you not if i know it
he broke in passionately  but dont mistake me
like that because i am open enough to own what
every man in my shoes would have thought of you
make your colours come up your face and get crabbed
with me that about your not being good enough for
me is nonsense you speak like a lady  all the parish
notice it and your uncle at weatherbury is i have
heerd a large farmer  much larger than ever i shall
be may i call in the evening or will you walk along
with me o sundays i dont want you to makeup
your mind at once if youd rather not
 no  no  i cannot dont press me any more 
dont i dont love you  so twould be ridiculous
she said with a laugh
no man likes to see his emotions the sport of a
merrygoround of skittishness  very well said oak
firmly with the bearing of one who was going to give 
his days and nights to ecclesiastes for ever then
ill ask you no more
departure of bathsheba  a pastoral tragedy
the news which one day reached gabriel that bath
sheba everdene had left the neighbourhood had an
influence upon him which might have surprised any
who never suspected that the more emphatic the renun
ciation the less absolute its character
it may have been observed that there is no regula
path for getting out of love as there is for getting in
some people look upon marriage as a short cut that way
but it has been known to fail separation which was
the means that chance offered to gabriel oak by
bathshebas disappearance though effectual with people
of certain humours is apt to idealise the removcd object
with others  notably those whose affection placid and
regular as it may be flows deep and long oak belonged
to the eventempered order of humanity and felt the
secret fusion of himself in bathsheba to be burning with
a finer flame now that she was gone  that was all
his incipient friendship with her aunthad been
nipped by the failure of his suit and all that oak learnt
of bathshebas movements was done indirectly it ap
peared that she had gone to a place called weatherbury
more than twenty miles off but in what capacity 
whether as a visitor or permanently he could not
discover
gabriel had two dogs george the elder exhibited
an ebonytipped nose surrounded by a narrow margin
of pink flesh and a coat marked in random splotches
approximating in colour to white and slaty grey  but the
grey after years of sun and rain had been scorched and
washed out of the more prominent locks leaving them
of a reddishbrown as if the blue component of the grey
had faded like the indigo from the same kind of colour in
turners pictures in substance it had originally been
hair but long contact with sheep seemed
to be turning
it by degrees into wool of a poor quality and staple
this dog had originally belonged to a shepherd of
inferior morals and dreadful temper and the result was
that george knew the exact degrees of condemnation
signified by cursing and swearing of all descriptions
better than the wickedest old man in the neighbourhood
long experience had so precisely taught the animal the
difference between such exclamations as come in  
and d     ye come in  that he knew to a hairs
breadth the rate of trotting back from the ewes tails
that each call involved if a staggerer with the sheep
crook was to be escaped though old he was clever
and trustworthy still
the young dog georges son might possibly have
been the image of his mother for there was not much
resemblance between him and george he was learn
ing the sheepkeeping business so as to follow on at
the flock when the other should die but had got no
further than the rudiments as yet  still finding an
insuperable difculty in distinguishing between doing a
thing well enough and doing it too well so earnest
and yet so wrongheaded was this young dog he had no
name in particular and answered with perfect readiness
to any pleasant interjection that if sent behind the
flock to help them on he did it so thoroughly that he
would have chased them across the whole county with
the greatest pleasure if not called off or reminded when
to step by the example of old george
thus much for the dogs on the further side of
norcombe hill was a chalkpit from which chalk had
been drawn for generations and spread over adjacent
farms two hcdges converged upon it in the form of
a v but without quite meeting the narrow opening
left which was immediately over the brow of the pit
was protected by a rough railing
one night when farmer oak had returned to his
house believing there would be no further necessity for
his attendance on the down he called as usual to the
dogs previously to shutting them up in the outhouse till
next morning only one responded  old george  the
othercould not be found either in the house lane or
garden  gabriel then remembered
that he had left the
two dogs on the hill eating a dead lamb a kind of meat
he usually kept from them except when other foodran
finished his meal he went indoors to the luxury of a bed
which latterly he had only enjoyed on sundays
it was a still moist night just before dawn he was
assisted in waking by the abnormal reverberation of
familiar music to the shepherd the note of the sheep
chronic sound that only makes itself noticed by ceasing
ever distant that all is well in the fold in the solemn
this exceptional ringing may be caused in two ways  
by the rapid feeding of the sheep bearing the bell as
when the flock breaks into new pasture which gives it
an intermittent rapidity or by the sheep starting off in
a run when the sound has a regular palpitation the
experieced ear of oak knew the sound he now heard
to be caused by the running of the flock with great
velocity
he jumped out of bed dressed tore down the lane
through a foggy dawn and ascended the hill the
forward ewes were kept apart from those among which
the fall of lambs would be later there being two hundred
of the latter class in gabriels flock these two hundred
seemed to have absolutely vanished from the hill there
were the fifty with their lambs enclosed at the other end
as he had left them but the rest forming the bulk of
the flock were nowhere gabriel called at the top of
his voice the shepherds call
 ovey ovey ovey  
not a single bleat he went to the hedge  a gap
had been broken through it and in the gap were the
footprints of the sheep rather surprised to find
them break fence at this season yet putting it down
instantly to their great fondness for ivy in wintertime
of which a great deal grew in the plantation he followed
through the hedge they were not in the plantation
he called again  the valleys and farthest hills
resounded
as when the sailors invoked the lost hylas on the mysian
shore  but no sheep he passed through the trees and
along the ridge of the hill on the extreme summit
where the ends of the two converging hedges of which
we have spoken were stopped short by meeting the brow
of the chalkpit he saw the younger dog standing against
the sky  dark and motionless as napoleon at st
helena
a horrible conviction darted through oak with
a sensation of bodily faintness he advanced  at one
point the rails were broken through and there he saw
the footprints of his ewes the dog came up licked
his hand and made signs implying that he expected
some great reward for signal services rendered oak
looked over the precipice the ewes lay dead and dying
at its foot  a heap of two hundred mangled careases
representing in their condition just now at least two
hundred more
oak was an intensely humane man indeed his
humanity often tore in pieces any politic intentions of
his which bordered on strategy and carried him on as
by gravitation a shadow in his life had always been
that his flock ended in mutton  that a day came and
found every shepherd an arrant traitor to his defenceless
sheep his first feeling now was one of pity for the
untimely fate of these gentle ewes and their unborn
lambs
it was a second to remember another phase of the
matter the sheep were not insured all the savings
of a frugal life had been dispersed at a blow  his hopes
of being an independent farmer were laid low  possibly
for ever gabriels energies patience and industry had
been so severely taxed during the years of his life between
eighteen and eightandtwenty to reach his present stage
of progress that no more seemed to be left in him he
hands
stupors however do not last for ever and farmer
oak recovered from his it was as remarkable as it was
characteristic that the one sentence he uttered was in
thankfulness  
thank god i am not married  what would she have
done in the poverty now coming upon me  
oak raised his head and wondering what he could
do listlessly surveyed the scene by the outer margin
of the pit was an oval pond and over it hung the
attenuated skeleton of a chromeyellow moon which
had only a few days to last  the morning star dogging
her on the left hand the pool glittered like a dead
mans eye and as the world awoke a breeze blew
shaking and elongating the reflection of the moon
without breaking it and turning the image of the star
to a phosphoric streak upon the water all this oak
saw and remembered
as far as could be learnt it appeared that the poor
young dog still under the impression that since he was
kept for running after sheep the more he ran after
them the better had at the end of his meal off the
dead lamb which may have given him additional energy
and spirits collected all the ewes into a corner driven
the timid creatures through the hedge across the upper
field and by main force of worrying had given them
momentum enough to break down a portion of the
rotten railing and so hurled them over the edge
georges son had done his work so thoroughly that
he was considered too good a workman to live and was
in fact taken and tragically shot at twelve oclcck that
same day  another instance of the untoward fate which
so often attends dogs and other philosophers who
follow out a train of reasoning to its logical conclusion
and attempt perfectly consistent conduct in a world
made up so largely of compromise
gabriels farm had been stocked by a dealer  on the
strength of oaks promising look and character  who
was receiving a percentage from the farmer till such
time as the advance should be cleared off oak found
that the value of stock plant and implements which
were really his own would be about sufficient to pay his
debts leaving himself a free man with the clothes he
stood up in and nothing more
the fair  the journey  the fire
two months passed away we are brought on to a
day in february on which was held the yearly statute
or hiring fair in the countytown of casterbridge
at one end of the street stood from two to three
hundred blithe and hearty labourers waiting upon chance
  all men of the stamp to whom labour suggests nothing
worse than a wrestle with gravitation and pleasure
nothing better than a renunciation of the same among
these carters and waggoners were distinguished by
having a piece of whipcord twisted round their hats
thatchers wore a fragment of woven straw shepherds
held their sheepcrooks in their hands and thus the
situation required was known to the hirers at a
glance
in the crowd was an athletic young fellow of some
what superior appearance to the rest  in fact his
superiority was marked enough to lead several ruddy
peasants standing by to speak to him inquiringly as to
a farmer and to use sir as a finishing word his
answer always was
i am looking for a place myself  a bailiffs do
ye know of anybody who wants one 
gabriel was paler now his eyes were more medi
tative and his expression was more sad he had
passed through an ordeal of wretchedness which had
given him more than it had taken away he had sunk
from his modest elevation as pastoral king into the very
slimepits of siddim  but there was left to him a digni
fied calm he had never before known and that indiffer
ence to fate which though it often makes a villain of
a man is the basis of his sublimity when it does not
and thus the abasement had been exaltation and the
loss gain
in the morning a regiment of cavalry had left the
town and a sergeant and his party had been beating up
for recruits through the four streets as the end of the
day drew on and
he found himself not hired gabriel
almost wished that he had joined them and gone off to
serve his country weary of standing in the market
place and not much minding the kind of work he
turned his hand to he decided to offer himself in some
other capacity than that of bailiff
all the farmers seemed to be wanting shepherds
sheeptending was gabriels speciality turning down
an obscure street and entering an obscurer lane he went
up to a smiths shop
how long would it take you to make a shepherds
crook  
twenty minutes
how much  
two shillings
he sat on a bench and the crook was made a stem
being given him into the bargain
he then went to a readymade clothes shop the
owner of which had a large rural connection as the
crook had absorbed most of gabriels money he
attempted and carried out an exchange of his overcoat
for a shepherds regulation smockfrock
this transaction having been completed he again
hurried off to the centre of the town and stood on the
kerb of the pavement as a shepherd crook in hand
now that oak had turned himself into a shepherd it
seemed that bailifs were most in demand however two
or three farmers noticed him and drew near dialogues
followed more or lessin the subjoined for 
where do you come from
norcombe
thats a long way
fifteen miles
whos farm were you upon last
my own
this reply invariably operated like a rumour of
cholera the inquring farmer would edge away and
shake his head dubiously gabriel like his dog was
too good to be trustworthy and he never made advance
beyond this point
it is safer to accept any chance that offers itself and
 
 
extemporize a procedure to fit it than to get a good
shepherd but had laid himself out for anything in the
whole cycle of labour that was required in the fair it
grew dusk some merry men were whistling and
singing by the cornexchange gabriels hand which
had lain for some time idle in his smockfrock pocket
touched his flute which he carried there here was
an opportunity for putting his dearly bought wisdom
into practice
he drew out his flute and began to play  jockey to
the fair in the style of a man who had never known
moments sorrow oak could pipe with arcadian
sweetness and the sound of the wellknown notes
cheered his own heart as well as those of the loungers
he played on with spirit and in half an hour had
earned in pence what was a small fortune to a destitute
man
by making inquiries he learnt that there was another
fair at shottsford the next day
how far is shottsford
ten miles tother side of weatherbury
weatherbury it was where bathsheba had gone
two months before this information was like coming
from night into noon
how far is it to weatherbury 
five or six miles
bathsheba had probably left weatherbury long before
this time but the place had enough interest attaching
to it to lead oak to choose shottsford fair as his next
field of inquiry because it lay in the weatherbury
quarter moreover the weatherbury folk were by no
means uninteresting intrinsically if report spoke truly
they were as hardy merry thriving wicked a set as
any in the whole county oak resolved to sleep at
weatherbury  that  night on his way to shottsford
and struck out at once  into the  high road which had
been recommended as the direct route to the village in
question
the road stretched through watermeadows traversed
by little brooks whose quivering surfaces were braided
along their centres and folded into creases at the sides
or where the flow was more rapid the stream was pied
with spots of white froth
which rode on in undisturbed
serenity on the higher levels the dead and dry carcases
of leaves tapped the ground as they bowled along helter
skelter upon the shoulders of the wind and little birds
in the hedges were rustling their feathers and tucking
themselves in comfortably for the night retaining their
places if oak kept moving but flying away if he
stopped to look at them he passed by yalburywood
where the gamebirds were rising to their roosts and
heard the crackvoiced cockpheasants cuuck cuck
and the wheezy whistle of the hens
by the time he had walked three or four miles every
shape in thelandscape had assumed a uniform hue of
blackness he descended yalbury hill and could just
discern ahead of him a waggon drawn up under a great
overhanging tree by the roadside
on coming close he found there were no horses
attached to it the spot being apparently quite deserted
the waggon from its position seemed to have been left
there for the night for beyond about half a truss  of hay
which was heaped in the bottom it was quite empty
gabriel sat down on the shafts of the vehicle and con
sidered his position he calculated that he had walked
a very fair proportion of the journey and having been
on foot since daybreak he felt tempted to lie down upon
the hay in the waggon instead of pushing on to the
village of weatherbury and having to pay for a lodging
eating his las slices of bread and ham and drinking
from the bottle of cider he had taken the precaution to
bring with him he got into the lonely waggon here
he spread half of the hay as a bed and as well as he
could in the darkness pulled the other half over him
by way of bedclothes covering himself entirely and
feeling physically as comfortable as ever he had been
in his life inward melancholy it was impossible for
a man like oak introspective far beyond his neighbours
to banish quite whilst conning the present untoward
page of his history so thinking of his misfortunes
amorous and pastoral he fell asleep shepherds enjoying
in common with sailors the privilege of being able to
summon the god instead of having to wait for him
on somewhat suddenly awaking after a sleep of
whose length he had no idea oak found that the waggon
was in motion he was being carried along the road
at a rate rather considerable for a vehicle without
springs and under circumstances of physical uneadiness
his head being dandled up and down on the bed of
the waggon like a kettledrumstick he then dis
tinguished voices in conversation comig from the
forpart of the waggon his concern at this dilemma
which would have been alarm had he been a thriving
man but  misfortune is a fine opiate to personal terror
led him to peer cautiously from the hay and the first
sight he beheld was the stars above him charless
wain was getting towards a right angle with the pole
star and gabriel concluded that it must be about nine
oclock  in other words that he had slept two hours
this small astronomical calculation was made without
any positive effort and whilst he was stealthily turning
to discover if possible into whose hands he had fallen
two figures were dimly visible in front sitting with
their legs outside the waggon one of whom was driving
gabriel soon found that this was the waggoner and it
appeared they had come from casterbridge fair like
himself
a conversation was in progress which continued
thus  
be as twill shes a fine handsome body as fars
looks be concerned but thats only the skin of the
woman and these dandy cattle be asproud as a lucifer
in their insides
ay  so a do seem billy smallbury  so a do seem
this utterance was very shaky by nature and more so
by circumstance the jolting of the waggon not being
without its effect upon the speakers larynx it came
from the man who held the reins
shes a very vain feymell  so tis said here and
there
ah now if so be tis like that i cant look her in
the face lord no  not i  hehhehheh  such a shy
man as i be
yes  shes very vain tis said that every night at
going to bed she looks in the glass to put on her night
cap properly
and not a married woman oh the world 
and a can play the peanner so tis said can
play so clever
that a can make a psalm tune sound as
well as the merriest loose song a man can wish for
dye tell ot  a happy time for us and i feel quite
a new man and how do she play
that i dsont know master poorgrass
on hearing these and other similar remarks a wild
thought flashed into gabriels mind that they might
be speaking of bathsheba there were however no
ground for retaining such a supposition for the waggon
though going in the direction of weatherbury might be
going beyond it and the woman alluded to seemed to be
the mistress of some estate they were now apparently
close upon weatherbury and not to alarm the speakers
unnecessarily gabriel slipped out of the waggon unseen
he turned to an opening in the hedge which he
found to be a gate and mounting thereon he sat
meditating whether to seek a cheap lodging in the
village or to ensure a cheaper one by lying under
some hay or cornstack the crunching jangle of the
waggon died upon his ear he was about to walk on
when he noticed on his left hand an unusual light  
appearing about half a mile distant oak watched it
and the glow increased something was on fire
gabriel again mounted the gate and leaping down
on the other side upon what he found to be ploughed
soil made across the field in the exact direction of the
fire the blaze enlarging in a  double ratio by his
approach and its own increase showed him as he drew
nearer the outlines of ricks beside it lighted up to great
distinctness a rickyard was the source of the fire
his weary face now began to be painted over with a
rich orange glow and the whole front of his smock
frock and gaiters was covered with a dancing shadow
pattern of thorntwigs  the light reaching him through
a leafless intervening hedge  and the metallic curve of
his sheepcrook shone silverbright in the same abound
ing rays he came up to the boundary fence and
stood to regain breath it seemed as if the spot was
unocupied by a living soul
the fire was issuing from a long strawstack which
was so
far gone as to preclude a possibility of saving it
a rick burns differently from a house as the wind
blows the fire inwards the portion in flames completely
disappears like melting sugar and the outline is lost
to the eye however a hay or a wheatrick well put
together will resist combustion for a length of time if
it begins on the outside
this before gabriels eyes was a rick of straw loosely
put together and the flames darted into it with lightning
swiftness it glowed on the windward side rising and
falling in intensity like the coal of a cigar then a
superincumbent bundle rolled down with a whisking
noise  flames elongated and bent themselves about
with a quiet roar but no crackle banks of smoke
went off horizontally at the back like passing clouds
and behind these burned hidden pyres illuminating
the semitransparent sheet of smoke to a lustrous yellow
uniformity individual straws in the foreground were
consumed in a creeping movement of ruddy heat as
if they were knots of red worms and above shone
imaginary fiery faces tongues hanging from lips glaring
eyes and other impish forms from which at intervals
sparks flew in clusters like birds from a nest
oak suddenly ceased from being a mere spectator
by discovering the case to be more serious than he had
at first imagined a scroll of smoke blew aside and
revealed to him a wheatrick in startling juxtaposition
with the decaying one and behind this a series of
others composing the main corn produce of the farm
so that instead of the strawstack standing as he had
imagined comparatively isolated there was a regular
connection between it and the remaining stacks of the
group
gabriel leapt over the hedge and saw that he was
not alone the first man he came to was running
about in a great hurry as if his thoughts were several
yards in advance of his body which they could never
drag on fast enough
o man  fire fire  a good master and a bad
servant is fire fire   i mane a bad servant and a good
master o mark clark  come  and you billy
smallbury  and you maryann money  and you jan
coggan and matthew there other figures now
appeared behind this shouting man and among the
smoke and
gabriel found that far from being alone
he was in a great company  whose shadows danced
merrily up and down timed by the jigging of the
flames and not at all by their owners movements
the assemblage  belonging to that class of society
which casts its thoughts into the form of feeling and
its feelings into the form of commotion  set to work
with a remarkable confusion of purpose
stop the draught under the wheatrick cried
gabriel to those nearest to him the corn stood on
stone staddles and between these tongues of yellow
hue from the burning straw licked and darted playfully
if the fire once got under this stack all would be
lost
get a tarpaulin  quick   said gabriel
a rickcloth was brought and they hung it like a
curtain across the channel the flames immediately
ceased to go under the bottom of the cornstack and
stood up vertical
stand here with a bucket of water and keep the
cloth wet said gabriel again
the flames now driven upwards began to attack
the angles of the huge roof covering the wheatstack
a ladder cried gabriel
the ladder was against the strawrick and is burnt
to a cinder said a spectrelike form in the smoke
oak seized the cut ends of the sheaves as if he
were going to engage in the operation of  reeddrawing
and digging in his feet and occasionally sticking in the
stem of his sheepcrook he clambered up the beetling
face he at once sat astride the very apex and began
with his crook to beat off the fiery fragments which had
lodged thereon shouting to the others to get him a
bough and a ladder and some water
billy smallbury  one of the men who had been on
the waggon  by this time had found a ladder which
mark clark ascended holding on beside oak upon the
thatch the smoke at this corner was stifling and
clark a nimble fellow having been handed a bucket
of water bathed oaks face and sprinkled him generally
whilst gabriel now with a long beechbough in one
hand in addition to his crook in the other kept
sweeping the stack and dislodging all fiery particles
on the ground the groups of villagers were still
occupied in doing all they could to keep down the
conflagration which was not much they were all
tinged orange and backed up by shadows of varying
pattern round the corner of the largest stack out
of the direct rays of the fire stood a pony bearing a
young woman on its back by her side was another
woman on foot these two seemed to keep at a
distance from the fire that the horse might not beome
restive
hes a shepherd said the woman on foot yes 
he is see how his crook shines as he beats the rick
with it and his smockfrock is burnt in two holes i
declare a fine young shepherd he is too maam
 whose shepherd is he said the equestrian in a
clear voice
dont know maam
  dont any of the others know 
  nobody at all  ive asked em quite a stranger
 they say
 the young woman on the pony rode out from the
shade and looked anxiously around
do you think the barn is safe  she said
dye think the barn is safe jan coggan  said
the second woman passing on the question to the
nearest man in that direction
safe now  leastwise i think so if this rick had
gone the barn would have followed tis that bold
shepherd up there that have done the most good  he
sitting on the top o rick whizzing his great longarms
about like a windmill
 he does work hard said the young woman on
horseback looking up at gabriel through her thick
woollen veil i wish he was shepherd here dont
any of you know his name
never heard the mans name in my life or seed
his form afore
the fire began to get worsted and gabriels elevated
position being no longer required of him he made as
if to descend
maryann said the girl on horseback go to him
as he comes down and say that the farmer wishes to
thank him for the great service he has done
maryann stalked off towards the rick and met
oak at the foot of the ladder she delivered ber
message
 where is your master the farmer  asked gabriel
kindling with the idea of getting employment that
seemed to strike him now
 tisnt a master  tis a mistress shepherd
 a woman farmer  
ay a blieve and a rich one too  said a by
stander  lately a came here from a distance took
on her uncles farm who died suddenly used to
measure his money in halfpint cups they say now
that sheve business in every bank in casterbridge and
thinks no more of playing pitchandtoss sovereign than
you and i do pitchhalfpenny  not a bit in the world
shepherd
thats she back there upon the pony said mary
ann wiher face acovered up in that black cloth with
holes in it
oak his features smudged grimy and undiscoverable
from the smoke and heat his smockfrock burntinto
holes and dripping with water the ash stem of his sheep
crook charred six inches shorter advansed with the
humility stern adversity had thrust upon him up to
the slight female form in the saddle he lifted his
hat with respect and not without galantry stepping
close to her hanging feet he said in a hesitating voice 
 do you happen to want a shepherd maam  
she lifted the wool veil tied round her face and
looked all astonishment gabriel and his coldhearted
darling bathsheba everdene were face to face
bathsheba did not speak and he mechanically
repeated in an abashed and sad voice 
 do you want a shepherd maam  
recognition  a timid girl
bathsheba withdrew into the shade she scarcely
knew whether most to be amused at the singularity of
the meeting or to be concerned at its awkwardness
there was room for a little pity also for a very little
exultation  the former at his position the latter at her
own embarrassed she was not and she remembered
gabriels declaration of love to her at norcombe only
to think she had nearly forgotten it
 yes she murmured putting on an air of dignity
and turning again to him with a little warmth of cheek 
 i do want a shepherd but    
 hes the very man maam said one of the villagers
quietly
conviction breeds conviction  ay that a is said
a second decisively
the man truly   said a third with heartiness
 hes all there   said number four fervidly
then will you tell him to speak to the bailiff said
bathsheba
all was practical again now a summer eve and
loneliness would have been necessary to give the
meeting its proper fulness of romance
the palpitation within his breast at discovering that this
ashtoreth of strange report was only a modification of
venus the wellknown and admired retired with him to
talk over the necessary preliminaries of hiring
the fire before them wasted away men said
bathsheba  you shall take a little refreshment after this
extra work will you come to the house 
we could knock in a bit and a drop a good deal
freer miss
if so be yed send it to warrens malthouse
replied the spokesman
bathsheba then rode off into the darkness and the
men straggled on to the village in twos and threes  oak
and the bailiff being left by the rick alone
and now said the bailiff finally all is settled i
think about your coming and i am going homealong
goodnight to ye shepherd
 can you get me a lodging   inquired gabriel
that i cant indeed he said moving past oak as
a christian edges past an offertoryplate when he does
not mean to contribute if you follow on the road till
you come to warrens malthouse where they are all
gone to have their snap of victuals i daresay some of
em will tell you of a place goodnight to ye shepherd
the bailiff who showed this nervous dread of loving
his neighbour as himself went up the hill and oak
walked on to the village still astonished at the ren
counter with bathsheba glad of his nearness to her and
perplexed at the rapidity with which the unpractised girl
of norcombe had developed into the supervising and cool
woman here but some women only require an emerg
ency to make them fit for one
obligcd to some extent to forgo dreaming in order
to find the way he reachcd the churchyard and passed
round it under the wall where several ancient trees grew
there was a wide margin of grass along here and
gabriels footsteps were deadened by its softness even
at this indurating period of the year when abreast of
a trunk which appeared to be the oldest of the old he
became aware that a figure was standing behind it
gabriel did not pause in his walk and in another
moment he accidentally kicked a loose stone the noise
was enough to disturb the motionless stranger who
started and assumed a careless position
it was a slim girl rather thinly clad
 goodnight to you said gabriel heartily
 goodnight said the girl to gabriel
the voice was unexpectedly attractive  it was the
low and
dulcet note suggestive of romance  common in
descriptions rare in experience
ill thank you to tell me if im in the way for
warrens malthouse   gabriel resumed primarily to gain
the information indirectly to get more of the music
quite right its at the bottom of the hill and
do you know     the girl hesitated and then went
on again do you know how late they keep open
the bucks head inn she seemed to be won by
gabriels heartiness as gabriel had been won by her
modulations
 i dont know where the bucks head is or anything
about it do you think of going there tonight 
 yes     the woman again paused there was
no necessity for any continuance of speech and the fact
that she did add more seemed to proceed from an
unconscious desire to show unconcern by making a
remark which is noticeable in the ingenuous when they
are acting by stealth  you are not a weatherbury man  
she said timorously
 i am not i am the new shepherd  just arrived
only a shepherd  and you seem almost a farmer by
your ways
 only a shepherd gabriel repeated in a dull cadence
of finality  his thoughts were directed to the past his
eyes to the feet of the girl and for the first time he
saw lying there a bundle of some sort she may have
perceived the direction of his face for she said
coaxingly 
 you wont say anything in the parish about having
seen me here will you  at least not for a day or two 
i wont if you wish me not to said oak
thank you indeed the other repliedi am
rather poor and i dont want people to know anything
about me  then she was silent and shivered
you ought to have a cloak on such a cold night
gabriel observed  i would advise ee to get indoors
o no would you mind going on and leaving
me  i thank you much for what you have told me
 i will go on he said  adding hesitatingly   since
you are
not very well off perhaps you would accept this
trifle from me it is only a shilling butit is all i have
to spare
 yes i will take it said the stranger gratefully
she extended her hand  gabriel his in feeling for
each others palm in the gloom before the money could
be passed a minute incident occurred which told much
gabriels fingers alighted on the young womans wrist
it was beating with a throb of tragic intensity he had
frequently felt the same quick hard beat in the femoral
artery of  his lambs when overdriven it suggested a
consumption too great of a vitality which to judge from
her figure and stature was already too little
what is the matter 
 nothing
but there is
 no no no  let your having seen me be asecret  
 very well  i will goodnight again
 goodnight
the young girl remained motionless by the tree and
gabriel descended into the village of weatherbury or
lower longpuddle as it was sometimes called he
fancied that he had felt himself in the penumbra of a
very deep sadness when touching that slight and fragile
creature but wisdom lies in moderating mere impres
sions and gabriel endeavoured to think little of this
the malthouse  the chat  news
warrens malthouse was enclosed by an old wall
inwrapped with ivy and though not much of the exterior
was visible at this hour the character and purposes of
the building were clearly enough shown by its outline
upon the sky from the walls an overhanging thatched
roof sloped up to a point in the centre upon which rose
a small wooden lantern fitted with louvreboards on all
the four sides and from these openings a mist was dimly
perceived to be escaping into the night air there was
no window in front  but a square hole in the door was
glazed with a single pane through which red comfortable
rays now stretched out upon the ivied wall in front
voices were to be heard inside
oaks hand skimmed the surface of the door with
fingers extended to an elymasthesomerer pattern till
he found a leathern strap which he pulled this lifted
a wooden latch and the door swung open
the room inside was lighted only by the ruddy glow
from the kiln mouth which shone over the floor with
the streaming horizontality of the setting sun and threw
upwards the shadows of all facial irregularities in those
assembled around the stoneflag floor was worn into
a path from the doorway to the kiln and into undula
tions everywhere a curved settle of unplaned oak
stretched along one side and in a remote corner was a
small bed and bedstead the owner and frequent occupier
of which was the maltster
this aged man was now sitting opposite the fire his
frosty white hair and beard overgrowing his gnarled
figure like the grey moss and lichen upon a leafless
appletree he wore breeches and the lacedup shoes
called anklejacks he kept his eyes fixed upon the
fire
gabriels nose was greeted by an atmosphere laden
with the sweet smell of new malt the conversation
which seemed to have been concerning the origin of the
fire immediately ceased and every one ocularly criticised
him to the degree expressed by contracting the flesh of
their foreheads and looking at him with narrowed eye
lids as if he had been a light too strong for their sight
several exclaimed meditatively after this operation had
been completed  
oh tis the new shepherd a blieve
we thought we heard a hand pawing about the
door for the bobbin but werent sure twere not a dead
leaf blowed across said another  come in shepherd 
sure ye be welcome though we dont know yer name
 gabriel oak thats my name neighbours
the ancient maltster sitting in the midst turned up
this  his turning being as the turning of a rusty
crane
thats never gable oaks grandson over at nor
combe  never   he said as a formula expressive of
surprise which nobody was supposed to take literally
my father and my grandfather were old men of the
name of gabriel said the shepherd placidly
thought i knowed the mans face as i seed him
on the rick   thought i did and where be ye trading
ot to now shepherd  
 im thinking of biding here said mr oak
knowed yer grandfather for years and years 
continued the maltster the words coming forth of their
own accord as if the momentum previously imparted
had been sufficient
ah  and did you 
 knowed yer grandmother
and her too
likewise knowed yer father when he was a child
why my boy jacob there and your father were sworn
brothers  that they were sure  werent ye jacob  
ay sure said his son a young man about sixty
five with a semibald head and one tooth in the left
centre of his upper jaw which made much of itself by
standing prominent like a
milestone in a bank but
twas joe had most to do with him however my son
william must have knowed the very man afore us 
didnt ye billy afore ye left norcombe  
no twas andrew said jacobs son billy a child
of forty or thereabouts who manifested the peculiarity
of possessing a cheerful soul in a gloomy body and
whose whiskers were assuming a chinchilla shade here
and there
i can mind andrew said oak as being a man in
the place when i was quite a child
ay  the other day i and my youngest daughter
liddy were over at my grandsons christening continued
billy  we were talking about this very family and
twas only last purification day in this very world when
the usemoney is gied away to the secondbest poor
folk you know shepherd and i can mind the day
because they all had to traypse up to the vestry  yes
this very mans family
 come shepherd and drink tis gape and
swaller with us  a drap of sommit but not of much
account said the maltster removing from the fire his
eyes which were vermilionred and bleared by gazing
into it for so many years take up the godforgive
me jacob see if tis warm jacoh
jacob stooped to the godforgiveme which was a
twohandled tall mug standing in the ashes cracked
and charred with heat  it was rather furred with ex
traneous matter about the outside especially in the
crevices of the handles the innermost curves of which
may not have seen daylight for several years by reason
of this encrustation thereon  formed of ashes accident
ally wetted with cider and baked hard but to the mind
of any sensible drinker the cup was no worse for that
being incontestably clean on the inside and about the
rim it may be observed that such a class of mug is
called a godforgiveme in weatherbury and its vicinity
for uncertain reasons  probably because its size makes
any given toper feel ashamed of himself when he sees
its bottom in drinking it empty
jacob on receiving the order to see if the liquor was
warm enough placidly dipped his forefinger into it by
way of thermometer and having pronounced it nearly
of the proper degree raised the cup and very civilly
attempted to dust some of the
ashes from the bottom
with the skirt of his smockfrock because shepherd oak
was a stranger
a clane cup for the shepherd said the maltster
commandingly
no  not at all said gabriel in a reproving tone
of considerateness i never fuss about dirt in its pure
state and when i know what sort it is taking the
mug he drank an inch or more from the depth of its
contents and duly passed it to the next man
wouldnt think of giving such trouble to neighbours in
washing up when theres so much work to be done in
the world already continued oak in a moister tone
after recovering from the stoppage of breath which is
occasioned by pulls at large mugs
 a right sensible man said jacob
 true true  it cant be gainsaid observed a brisk
young man  mark clark by name a genial and pleasant
gentleman whom to meet anywhcre in your travels was
to know to know was to drink with and to drink with
was unfortunately to pay for
and heres a mouthful of bread and bacon that
misess have sent shepherd the cider will go down
better with a bit of victuals dont ye chaw quite close
shepherd for i let the bacon fall in the road outside as
i was bringing it along and may be tis rather gritty
there tis clane dirt and we all know what that is
as you say and you baint a particular man we see
shepherd
 true true  not at all said the friendly oak
dont let your teeth quite meet and you wont feel
the sandiness at all ah  tis wonderful what can be
done by contrivance  
 my own mind exactly neighbour
 ah hes his grandfers own grandson   his grandfer
were just such a nice unparticular man  said the maltster
 drink henry fray  drink magnanimously said
jan coggan a person who held saintsimonian notions
of share and share alike where liquor was concerned as
the vessel showed signs of approaching him in its gradual
revolution among them
having at this moment reached the end of a wistful
gaze
into midair henry did not refuse he was a man
of more than middle age with eyebrows high up in his
forehead who laid it down that the law of the world
was bad with a longsuffering look through his listeners
at the world alluded to as it presented itself to his
imagination he always signed his name henery 
strenuously insisting upon that spelling and if any
passing schoolmaster ventured to remark that the second
e was superfluous and oldfashioned he received the
reply that  henery was the name he was christened
and the name he would stick to  in the tone of one
to whom orthographical differences were matters which
had a great deal to do with personal character
mr jan coggan who had passed the cup to henery
was a crimson man with a spacious countenance and
private glimmer in his eye whose name had appeared
on the marriage register of weatherbury and neighbour
ing parishes as best man and chief witness in countless
unions of the previous twenty years he also very
frequently filled the post of head godfather in baptisms
of the subtlyjovial kind
 come mark clark  come thers plenty more
in the barrel said jan
ay  that i will tis my only doctor replied mr
clark who twenty years younger than jan coggan
revolved in the same orbit he secreted mirth on all
occasions for special discharge at popular parties
 why joseph poorgrass ye hant had a drop  said
mr coggan to a selfconscious man in the background
thrusting the cup towards him
 such a modest man as he is   said jacob smallbury
 why yeve hardly had strength of eye enough to look
in our young misesss face so i hear joseph 
all looked at joseph poorgrass with pitying reproach
 no  ive hardly looked at her at all simpered
joseph reducing his body smaller whilst talking
apparently from a meek sense of undue prominence
and when i seed her twas nothing but blushes with
me
 poor feller said mr clark
tis a curious nature for a man said jan coggan
 yes continued jdseph poorgrass  his shyness
which was so painful as a defect filling him with a
mild complacency now that it was regarded as an
interesting study  twere blush blush blush with
me every minute of the time when she was speaking
to me
i believe ye joseph poorgrass for we all know ye
to be a very bashful man
tis a awkward gift for a man poor soul said the
maltster and ye have suffered from it a long time
we know
ay ever since i was a boy yes  mother was
concerned to her heart about it  yes but twas all
nought
did ye ever go into the world to try and stop it
joseph poorgrass  
oh ay tried all sorts o company they took me
to greenhill fair and into a great gay jerrygonimble
show where there were womenfolk riding round 
standing upon horses with hardly anything on but their
smocks but it didnt cure me a morsel and then i
was put errandman at the womens skittle alley at the
back of the tailors arms in casterbridge twas a
horrible sinful situation and a very curious place for a
good man i had to stand and look bady people in
the face from morning till night but twas no use  i
was just asbad as ever after all blushes hev been
in the family for generations there tis a happy pro
vidence that i be no worse
 true said jacob smallbury deepening his thoughts
to a profounder view of the subject tis a thought
to look at that ye might have been worse but even
as you be tis a very bad affliction for ee joseph for
ye see shepherd though tis very well for a woman
dang it all tis awkward for a man like him poor
feller  
 tis  tis said gabriel recovering from a medita
tion  yes very awkward for the man
 ay and hes very timid too observed jan coggan
once he had been working late at yalbury bottom
and had had a drap of drink and lost his way as he was
coming homealong through yalbury wood didnt ye
master poorgrass  
 no no no  not that story  expostulated the
modest man forcing a laugh to bury his concern
     and so a lost himself quite continued mr
coggan with an impassive face implying that a true
narrative like time and tide must run its course and
would respect no man and as he was coming along
in the middle of the night much afeared and not able
to find his way out of the trees nohow a cried out
 manalost manalost  a owl in a tree happened
to be crying whoowhoowhoo  as owls do you
know shepherd  gabriel nodded  and joseph all
in a tremble said  joseph poorgrass of weatherbury
sir
no no now  thats too much  said the timid
man becoming a man of brazen courage all of a sudden
i didnt say sir ill tike my oath i didnt say  joseph
poorgrass o weatherbury sir no no  whats right
is right and i never said sir to the bird knowing very
well that no man of a gentlemans rank would be
hollering there at that time o night  joseph poor
grass of weatherbury   thats every word i said and
i shouldnt ha said that if t hadnt been for keeper
days metheglin there twas a merciful thing it
ended where it did
the question of which was right being tacitly waived
by the company jan went on meditatively  
and hes the fearfullest man baint ye joseph
ay another time ye were lost by lambingdown gate
werent ye joseph  
i was replied poorgrass as if there were some
conditions too serious even for modesty to remember
itself under this being one
 yes  that were the middle of the night too the
gate would not open try how he would and knowing
there was the devils hand in it he kneeled down
ay said joseph acquiring confidence from the
warmth of the fire the cider and a perception of the
narrative capabilities of the experience alluded to
 my heart died within me that time but i kneeled
down and said the lords prayer and then the belie
the chat
right through and then the ten commandments in
earnest prayer but no the gate wouldnt open and
then i went on with dearly beloved brethren and
thinks i this makes four and tis all i know out of
book and if this dont do it nothing will and im a
lost man well when i got to
saying after me i
rose from my knees and found the gate would open
  yes neighbours the gate opened the same as ever
  a meditation on the obvious inference wsas indulged
in by all and during its continuance each directed his
vision into the ashpit which glowed like a desert in
the tropics under a vertical sun shaping their eyes long
and liny partly because of the light partly from the
depth of the subject discussed
  gabriel broke the silence what sort of a place
is this to live at and what sort of a misess is she to
work under gabriels bosom thrilled gently as he
thus slipped under the notice of the assembly the inner
most subject of his heart
  we d know little of her  nothing she only
showed herself a few days ago her uncle was took
bad and the doctor was called with his worldwide
skill but he couldnt save the man as i take it
shes going to keep on the farm
  thats abouyt the shape ot a blieve said jan
uncle was a very fair sort of man did ye know en
be under em as under one here and there her
uncle was a very fair sort of man did ye know en
shepherd  a bachelorman  
  not at all
  i used to go to his house acourting my first wife
charlotte who was his dairymaid well a very good
hearted man were farmer everdene and i being a
respectable young fellow was allowed to call and see
her and drink as much ale as i liked but not to carry
away any  outside my skin i mane of course
  ay ay jan coggan we know yer maning
  and so you see twas beautiful ale and i wished
to value his kindness as much as i could and not to
be so illmannered as to drink only a thimbleful which
would have been insulting the mans generosity     
  true master coggan twould so corroborated
mark clark
      and so i used to eat a lot of salt fish afore
going and then by the time i got there i were as dry
as a limebasket  so thorough dry that that ale would
slip down   ah twould slip down sweet happy
times heavenly times such lovely drunks as i
used to have at that house you can mind jacob
you used to go wi me sometimes
  i can  i can said jacob that one too that
we had at bucks head on a white monday was a
pretty tipple
  twas but for a wet of the better class that
brought you no nearer to the horned man than you were
afore you begun there was none like those in farmer
everdenes kitchen not a single damn allowed no
not a bare poor one even at the most cheerful moment
when all were blindest though the good old word of
sin thrown in here and there at such times is a great
relief to a merry soul
  true said the maltster nater requires her
swearing at the regular times or shes not herself and
unholy exclamations is a necessity of life
  but charlotte continued coggan  not a word of
the sort would charlotte allow nor the smallest item of
taking in vain ay poor charlotte i wonder if she
had the good fortune to get into heaven when a died
but a was never much in lucks way and perhaps a
went downwards after all poor soul
  and did any of you know miss everdenesfather
and mother inquired the shepherd who found some
difficulty in keeping the conversation in the desired
channel
the chat
  i knew them a little said jacob smallbury but
they were townsfolk and didnt live here theyve
been dead for years father what sort of people were
misess father and mother
  well said the maltster he wasnt much to look
at but she was a lovely woman he was fond enough
of her as his sweetheart
  used to kiss her scores and longhundreds o times
so twas said observed coggan
  he was very proud of her too when they were
married as ive been told said the maltster
  ay said coggan he admired her so much that
he used to light the candle three time a night to look
at her
  boundless love i shouldnt have supposed it in the
universe murmered joseph poorgrass who habitually
spoke on a large scale in his moral reflections
  well to be sure said gabriel
  oh tis true enough i knowed the man and
woman both well levi everdene  that was the mans
name sure man
saith i in my hurry but he were
of a higher circle of life than that  a was a gentleman
tailor really worth scores of pounds and he became
a very celebrated bankrupt two or three times
  oh i thought he was quite a common man said
joseph
  o no no that man failed for heaps of money
hundreds in gold and silver
  the maltster being rather short of breath mr coggan
after absently scrutinising a coal which had fallen among
the ashes took up the narrative with a private twirl of
his eye 
  well now youd hardly believe it but that man 
husbands alive after a while understand a didnt
want to be fickle but he couldnt help it the poor
feller were faithful and true enough to her in his wish
but his heart would rove do what he would he spoke
to me in real tribulation about it once coggan
he said i could never wish for a handsomer woman
than ive got but feeling shes ticketed as my lawful
wife i cant help my wicked heart wandering do what
i will but at last i believe he cured it by making her
take off her weddingring and calling her by her maiden
name as they sat together after the shop was shut and
so a would get to fancy she was only his sweetheart and
not married to him at all and as soon as he could
thoroughly fancy he was doing wrong and committing
the seventh a got to like her as well as ever and they
lived on a perfect picture of mutel love
  well twas a most ungodly remedy murmured
joseph poorgrass but we ought to feel deep cheerful
ness that a happy providence kept it from being any
worse you see he might have gone the bad road and
given his eyes to unlawfulness entirely  yes gross un
lawfulness so to say it
  you see said billy smallbury the mans will was
to do right sure enough but his heart didnt chime in
  he got so much better that he was quite godly
in his later years wasnt he jan  said joseph poor
grass he got himself confirmed over again in a more
serious way and took to saying amen almost as loud
as the clerk and he liked to copy comforting verses
from the tombstones he used too to hold the money
plate at let your light so shine and stand
godfather
to poor little comebychance children and he kept a
missionary box upon his table to nab folks unawares
when they called yes and he wouldbox the charity
boys ears if they laughed in church till they could
hardly stand upright and do other deeds of piety
natural to the saintly inclined
  ay at that time he thought of nothing but high
things added billy smallbury one day parson thirdly
met him and said goodmorning mister everdene tis
the chat
a fine day amen said everdene quite absent
like thinking only of religion when he seed a parson
  their daughter was not at all a pretty chiel at that
time said henery fray never should have thought
shed have growed up such a handsome body as she is
  tis to be hoped her temper is as good as her face
  well yes but the baily will have most to do with
the business and ourselves ah henery gazed into
the ashpit and smiled volumes of ironical knowledge
  a queer christian like the devils head in a cowl
  he is said henery implying that irony must cease
at a certain point between we two man and man i
believe that man would as soon tell a lie sundays as
workingdays  that i do so
  good faith you do talk said gabriel
  true enough said the man of bitter moods looking
round upon the company with the antithetic laughter
that comes from a keener appreciation of the miseries
of life than ordinary men are capable of ah theres
people of one sort and people of another but that man
  bless your souls
  gabriel thought fit to change the subject you
must be a very aged man malter to have sons growed
mild and ancient he remarked
  fathers so old that a cant mind his age can ye
father interposed jacob and he growled terrible
crooked too lately jacob continued surveying his
fathers figure which
was rather more bowed than his own
really one may say that father there is threedouble
  crooked folk will last a long while said the maltster
grimly and not in the best humour
  shepherd would like to hear the pedigree of yer
life father  wouldnt ye shepherd 
  ay that i should said gabriel with the heartiness
of a man who had longed to hear it for several months
what may your age be malter
  the maltster cleared his throat in an exaggerated
form for emphasis and elongating his gaze to the
remotest point of the ashpit said in the slow speech
justifiable when the importance of a subject is so
generally felt that any mannerism must be tolerated
in getting at it well i dont mind the year i were
born in but perhaps i can reckon up the places ive
lived at and so get it that way i bode at upper long
puddle across there nodding to the north till i were
eleven i bode seven at kingsbere nodding to the
east where i took to malting i went therefrom to
norcombe and malted there twoandtwenty years and
twoandtwenty years i was there turniphoeing and
harvesting ah i knowed that old place norcombe
years afore you were thought of master oak oak smiled
sincere belief in the fact then i malted at dur
nover four year and four year turniphoeing and
i was fourteen times eleven months at millpond st
judes  nodding northwestbynorth old twills
wouldnt hire me for more than eleven months at a
time to keep me from being chargeable to the parish
if so be i was disabled then i was three year at
mellstock and ive been here oneandthirty year come
candlemas how much is that
  hundred and seventeen chuckled another old
gentleman given to mental arithmetic and little con
versation who had hitherto sat unobserved in a corner
  well then thats my age said the maltster em
phatically
  o no father said jacob your turniphoeing
were in the summer and your malting in the winter of
the same years and ye dont ought to countboth halves
father
  chok it all i lived through the summers didnt
i thats my question i suppose yell say next i be
no age at all to speak of
  sure we shant said gabriel soothingly
  ye be a very old aged person malter attested jan
must have a wonderful talented constitution to be able
to live so long mustnt he neighbours
  true true ye must malter wonderful said the
meeting unanimously
  the maltster being know pacified was even generous
enough to voluntarily disparage in a slight degree the
virtue of having lived a great many years by mentioning
that the cup they were drinking out of was three years
older than he
  while the cup was being examined the end of
gabriel oaks flute became visible over his smockfrock
i seed you blowing into a great flute by now at caster
bridge
  you did said gabriel blushingh faintly ive been
in great trouble neighbours and was driven to it
take it carelesslike shepherd and your time will come
tired
  neither drum nor trumpet have i heard since
christmas said jan coggan come raise a tune
master oak
  that i will said gabriel pulling out his flute and
putting it together a poor tool neighbours but
such as i can do ye shall have and welcome
  oak then struck up jockey to the fair and played
that sparkling melody three times through accenting the
notes in the third round in a most artistic and lively
manner by bending his body in small jerks and tapping
with his foot to beat time
  he can blow the flute very well  that a can said
a young married man who having no individuality worth
mentioning was known as susan talls husband he
continued id as lief as not be able to blow into a
flute as wellas that
  hes a clever man and tis a true comfort for us to
have such a shepherd murmured joseph poorgrass in
a soft cadence we ought to feel full o thanksgiving
that hes not a player of bady songs instead of these
merry tunes for twould have been just as easy for god
to have made the shepherd a loose low man  a man of
iniquity so to speak it  as what he is yes for our wives
and daughters sakes we should feel real thanks giving
  true true  real thanksgiving dashed in mark
clark conclusively not feeling it to be of any conse
quence to his opinion that he had only heard about a
word and threequarters of what joseph had said
  yes added joseph beginning to feel like a man in
the bible for evil do thrive so in these times that ye
may be as much deceived in the clanest shaved and
whitest shirted man as in the raggedest tramp upon the
turnpike if i may term it so
  ay i can mind yer face now shepherd said
henery fray criticising gabriel with misty eyes as he
entered upon his second tune yes  now i see ee
blowing into the flute i know ee to be the same man
i see play at casterbridge for yer mouth were scrimped
up and yer eyes astaring out like a strangled mans 
just as they be now
  tis a pity that playing the flute should make a man
look such a scarecrow observed mr mark clark with
additional criticism of gabriels countenance the latter
person jerking out with the ghastly grimace required by
the instrument the chorus of dame durden
  i hope you dont mind that young mans bad
manners in naming your features whispered joseph to
gabriel
  not at all said mr oak
  for by nature ye be a very handsome man
shepherd continued joseph poorgrass with winning
sauvity
  ay that ye be shepard said the company
  thank you very much said oak in the modest
tone good
manners demanded thinking however that
he would never let bathsheba see him playing the
flute in this severe showing s discretion equal to that
related to its sagacious inventress the divine minerva
herself
  ah when i and my wife were married at norcombe
church said the old maltster not pleased at finding
himself left out of the subject we were called the
handsomest couple in the neighbourhood  everybody
said so
  danged if ye baint altered now malter said a voice
with the vigour natural to the enunciation of a remark
ably evident truism it came from the old man in the
background whose offensiveness and spiteful ways were
barely atoned for by the occasional chuckle he con
tributed to general laughs
  o no no said gabriel
  dont ye play no more shepherd  said susan talls
husband the young married man who had spoken once
before i must be moving and when theres tunes
going on i seem as if hung in wires if i thought after
id left that music was still playing and i not there i
should be quite melancholylike
  whats yer hurry then laban inquired coggan
you used to bide as late as the latest
  well ye see neighbours i was lately married to a
woman and shes my vocation now and so ye see    
the young man hated lamely
  new lords new laws as the saying is i suppose
remarked coggan
  ay a blieve  ha ha said susan talls husband
in a tone intended to imply his habitual reception of
jokes without minding them at all   the young man
then wished them goodnight and withdrew
  henery fray was the first to follow then gabriel
arose and went off with jan coggan who had offered
him a lodging a few minutes later when the remaining
ones were on their legs and about to depart fray came
back again in a hurry flourishing his finger ominously
he threw a gaze teeming with tidings just  where his eye
alighted by accident which happened to be in joseph
poorgrasss face
  o  whats the matter whats the matter henery
said joseph starting back
  whats abrewing henrey asked jacob and mark
clark
  baily pennyways  baily pennyways  i said so yes
i said so
  what found out stealing anything
  stealing it is the news is that after miss
everdene got home she went out again to see all was
safe as she usually do and coming in found baily
pennyways creeping down the granary steps with half a
a bushel of barley she fleed at him  like a cat  never
such a tomboy as she is  of course i speak with closed
doors
  you do  you do henery
  she fleed at him and to cut a long story short
he owned to having carried off five sack altogether upon
her promising not to persecute him well hes turned
out neck and crop and my question is whos going to
be baily now
  the question was such a profound one that henery
was obliged to drink there and then from the large
cup till the bottom was distinctly visible inside before
he had replaced it on the table in came the young man
susan talls husband in a still greater hurry
  have ye heard the news thats all over parish
  about baily pennyways
  but besides that
  no  not a morsel of it they replied looking into
the very midst of laban tall as if to meet his words
halfway down his throat
  what a night of horrors murmured joseph poor
grass waving his hands spasmodically ive had the
newsbell ringing in my left ear quite bad enough for a
murder and ive seen a magpie all alone
  fanny robin  miss everdenes youngest servant 
cant be found theyve been wanting to lock up the
door these two hours but she isnt come in and they
dont know what to do about going to hed for fear of
locking her out they wouldnt be so concerned if she
hadnt been noticed in such low spirits
these last few
days and maryann dthink the beginning of a crowners
inquest has happened to the poor girl
  o  tis burned  tis burned came from joseph
poorgrasss dry lips
  no  tis drowned said tall
  or tis her fathers razor suggested billy smallbury
with a vivid sense of detail
  well  miss everdene wants to speak to one or two
of us before we go to bed what with this trouble about
the baily and now about the girl misess is almost wild
  they all hastened up the lane to the farmhouse
excepting the old maltster whom neither news fire
rain nor thunder could draw from his hole there as
the others footsteps died away he sat down again and
continued gazing as usual into the furnace with his red
bleared eyes
  from the bedroom window above their heads bath
shebas head and shoulders robed in mystic white were
dimly seen extended into the air
  are any of my men among you she said anxiously
  yes maam several said susan talls husband
  tomorrow morning i wish two or three of you to
make inquiries in the villages round if they have seen
such a person as fanny robin do it quietly there is
no reason for alarm as yet she must have left whilst
we were all at the fire
  i beg yer pardon but had she any young man court
ing her in the parish maam asked jacob smallbury
  i dont know said bathsheba
  ive never heard of any such thing maam said
two or three
  it is hardly likely either continued bathsheba
for any lover of hers might have come to the house if
he had been a respectable lad the most mysterious
matter connected with her absence  indeed the only
thing which gives me serious alarm  is that she was
seen to go out of the house by maryann with only her
indoor working gown on  not even a bonnet
  and you mean maam excusing my words that a
young
woman would hardly go to see her young man
without dressing up said jacob turning his mental
vision upon past experiences thats true  she would
not maam
  she had i think a bundle though i couldnt see
very well said a female voice from another window
which seemed that of maryann but she had no
young man about here hers lives in casterbridge and
i believe hes a soldier
  do you know his name bathsheba said
  no mistress she was very close about it
  perhaps i might be able to find out if i went to
casterbridge barracks said william smallbury
  very well if she doesnt return tomorrow mind
you go there and try to discover which man it is and
see him i feel more responsible than i should if she
had had any friends or relations alive i do hope she
has come to no harm through a man of that kind
and then theres this disgraceful affair of the bailiff 
but i cant speak of him now
  bathsheba had so many reasons for uneasiness that
it seemed she did not think it worth while to dwell
upon any particular one do as i told you then
she said in conclusion closing the casement
  ay ay mistress we will they replied and moved
away
  that night at coggans gabriel oak beneath the
screen of closed eyelids was busy with fancies and full
of movement like a river flowing rapidly under its ice
night had always been the time at which he saw bath
sheba most vividly and through the slow hours of
shadow he tenderly regarded her image now it is
rarely that the pleasures of the imagination will compen
sate for the pain of sleeplessness but they possibly did
with oak tonight for the delight of merely seeing her
effaced for the time his perception of the great differ
ence between seeing and possessing
  he also thought of plans for fetching his few utensils
and books from norcombe the young mans best
companion the farriers sure guide the veterinary
surgeon paradise lost the pilgrims progress robinson
crusoe ashs dictionary the walkingames arithmetic
constituted his library
and though a limited series it was
one from which he had acquired more sound informa
tion by diligent perusal than many a man of opportunities
has done from a furlong of laden shelves
the homestead  a visitor  halfconfidences
by daylight the bower of oaks newfound mistress
bathsheba everdene presented itself as a hoary build
ing of the early stage of classic renaissance as regards
its architecture and of a proportion which told at a
glance that as is so frequently the case it had once
been the memorial hall upon a small estate around it
now altogether effaced as a distinct property and merged
in the vast tract of a nonresident landlord which com
prised several such modest demesnes
  fluted pilasters worked from the solid stone
decorated its front and above the roof the chimneys
were panelled or columnar some coped gables with
finials and like features still retaining traces of their
gothic extraction soft brown mosses like faded
velveteen formed cushions upon the stone tiling and
tufts of the houseleek or sengreen sprouted from the
eaves of the low surrounding buildings a gravel walk
leading from the door to the road in front was encrusted
at the sides with more moss  here it was a silvergreen
variety the nutbrown of the gravel being visible to the
width of only a foot or two in the centre this circum
stance and the generally sleepy air of the whole prospect
here together with the animated and contrasting state
of the reverse facade suggested to the imagination that
on the adaptation of the building for farming purposes
the vital principle of the house had turned round inside
its body to face the other way reversals of this kind
strange deformities tremendous paralyses are often seen
to be inflicted by trade upon edifices  either individual
or in the aggregate as streets and towns  which were
originally planned for pleasure alone
  lively voices were heard this morning in the upper
rooms the main staircase to which was of hard oak the
balusters heavy as bedposts being turned and moulded
in the quaint
fashion of their century the handrail as
stout as a parapettop and the stairs themselves con
tinually twisting round like a person trying to look over
his shoulder going up the floors above were found
to have a very irregular surface rising to ridges sinking
into valley and being just then uncarpeted the face
of the boards was seen to be eaten into innumerable
the opening and shutting of every door a tremble
followed every bustling movement and a creak accom
panied a walker about the house like a spirit wherever
he went
  in the room from which the conversation proceeded
bathsheba and her servantcompanion liddy small
bury were to be discovered sitting upon the floor and
sorting a complication of papers books bottles and
rubbish spread out thereon  remnants from the house
hold stores of the late occupier liddy the maltsters
greatgranddaughter was about bathshebas equal in
age and her face was a prominent advertisement of the
features might have lacked in form was amply made up
for by perfection  of hue which at this wintertime was
the softened ruddiness on a surface of high rotundity
and like the presentations of those great colourists it
was a face which kept well back from the boundary
between comeliness and the ideal though elastic in
nature she was less daring than bathsheba and occa
sionally showed some earnestness which consisted half
of genuine feeling and half of mannerliness superadded
by way of duty
  through a partlyopened door the noise of a scrubbing
brush led up to the charwoman maryann money a person
who for a face had a circular disc furrowed less by age
than by long gazes of perplexity at distant objects to
think of her was to get goodhumoured to speak of
her was to raise the image of a dried normandy
pippin
  stop your scrubbing a moment said bathsheba
through the door to her i hear something
  maryann suspended the brush
  the tramp of a horse was apparent approaching the
front of the building the paces slackened turned in
at the wicket and what was most unusual came up
the mossy path close to the door the door was
tapped with the end of a crop or stick
  what impertinence said liddy in a low voice
to ride up the footpath like that why didnt he
stop at the gate lord tis a gentleman i see the
top of his hat
  be quiet said bathsheba
  the further expression of liddys concern was con
tinued by aspect instead of narrative
  why doesnt mrs coggan go to the door bath
sheba continued
  rattattattat resounded more decisively from bath
shebas oak
  maryann you go said she fluttering under the
onset ot a crowd of romantic possibilities
  o maam  see heres a mess
  the argument was unanswerable after a glance at
maryann
  liddy  you must said bathsheba
  liddy held up her hands and arms coated with dust
from the rubbish they were sorting and looked implor
ingly at her mistress
  there  mrs coggan is going said bathsheba
exhaling her relief in the form of a long breath which
had lain in her bosom a minute or more
  the door opened and a deep voice said 
  is miss everdene at home
  ill see sir said mrs coggan and in a minute
appeared in the room
  dear what a thirtover place this world is con
tinued mrs coggan a wholesomelooking lady who
had a voice for each class of remark according to the
emotion involved who could toss a pancake or twirl
a mop with the accuracy of pure mathematics and
who at this moment showed hands shaggy with frag
ments of dough and arms encrusted with flour i
am never up to my elbows miss in making a pudding
but one of two things do happen  either my nose must
needs begin
tickling and i cant live without scratching
  a womans dress being a part of her countenance
and any disorder in the one being of the same nature
with a malformation or wound in the other bathsheba
said at once 
  i cant see him in this state whatever shall i do
  notathomes were hardly naturalized in weatherbury
farmhouses so liddy suggested  say youre a fright
with dust and cant come down
  yes  that sounds very well said mrs coggan
critically
  say i cant see him  that will do
  mrs coggan went downstairs and returned the
answer as requested adding however on her own
responsibility miss is dusting bottles sir and is quite
a object  thats why tis
  oh very well said the deep voice indifferently
all i wanted to ask was if anything had been heard
of fanny robin
  nothing sir  but we may know tonight william
smallbury is gone to casterbridge where her young
man lives as is supposed and the other men be inquir
ing about everywhere
  the horses tramp then recommenced and retreated
and the door closed
  who is mr boldwood said bathsheba
  a gentlemanfarmer at little weatherbury
  married
  no miss
  how old is he
  forty i should say  very handsome  rather stern
looking  and rich
  what a bother this dusting is  i am always in
some unfortunate plight or other bathsheba said
complainingly why should he inquire aboat fanny
  oh because as she had no friends in her childhood
he took her and put her to school and got her her
place here under your uncle hes a very kind man
that way but lord  there
  what
  never was such a hopeless man for a woman
hes been
courted by sixes and sevens  all the girls
gentle and simple for miles round have tried him jane
perkins worked at him for two months like a slave
and the two miss taylors spent a year upon him
and he cost farmer ivess daughter nights of tears
and twenty pounds worth of new clothes but lord 
the money might as well have been thrown out of the
window
  a little boy came up at this moment and looked in
upon them this child was one of the coggans who
with the smallburys were as common among the
families of this district as the avons and derwents
among our rivers he always had a loosened tooth or
a cut finger to show to particular friends which he did
with an air of being thereby elevated above the common
herd of afflictionless humanity  to which exhibition
of congratulation as well as pity
  ive got a pennee said master coggan in a
scanning measure
  well  who gave it you teddy said liddy
  misterr boldwood he gave it to me for opening
the gate
  what did he say
  he said where are you going my little man
and i said to miss everdenes please and he said
she is a staid woman isnt she my little man and
i said yes
  you naughty child what did you say that for
  cause he gave me the penny
  what a pucker evrything is in said bathsheba
discontentedly when the child had gone get away
thing you ought to be married by this time and not
here troubling me
  ay mistress  so i did but what between the poor
men i wont have and the rich men who wont have me
i stand as a pelicon in the wilderness
  did anybody ever want to marry you miss liddy
ventured to ask when they were again alone lots of
em i daresay
  bathsheba paused as if about to refuse a reply but
the temptation to say yes since it was really in her
power was irresistible by aspiring virginity in spite of
her spleen at having been published as old
  a man wanted to once she said in a highly experi
enced tone and the image of gabriel oak as the farmer
rose before her
  how nice it must seem said liddy with the fixed
features of mental realization and you wouldnt have
him
  he wasnt quite good enough for me
  how sweet to be able to disdain when most of us
are glad to say thank you i seem i hear it
no sir  im your better or kiss my foot sir my
face is for mouths of consequence and did you love
him miss
  oh no but i rather liked him
  do you now
  of course not  what footsteps are those i hear
  liddy looked from a back window into the courtyard
behind which was now getting lowtoned and dim with
the earliest films of night a crooked file of men was
approaching the back door the whole string of trailing
individuals advanced in the completest balance of inten
tion like the remarkable creatures known as chain
salpae which distinctly organized in other respects have
one will common to a whole family some were as
usual in snowwhite smockfrocks of russia duck and
some in whiteybrown ones of drabbet  marked on the
wrists breasts backs and sleeves with honeycombwork
two or three womcn in pattens brought up the rear
  the philistines be upon us said liddy making her
nose white against the glass
  oh very well maryann go down and keep them
in the kitchen till i am dressed and then show them in
to me in the hall
halfanhour later bathsheba in finished dress
and followed by liddy entered the upper end of the old
hall to find that her men had all deposited themselves on
a long form and a settle at the lower extremity she sat
down at a table and opened th e timebook pen in her
hand with a canvas moneybag beside her from this
she poured a small heap of coin liddy chose a
position at her elbow and began to sew sometimes
pausing and looking round or with the air of a privileged
person taking up one of the halfsovereigns lying before
her and surveying it merely as a work of art while
strictly preventing her countenance from expressing any
wish to possess it as money
  now before i begin men said bathsheba i have
two matters to speak of the first is that the bailiff is
dismissed for thieving and that i have formed a resolu
tion to have no bailiff at all but to manage everything
with my own head and hands
  the men breathed an audible breath of amazement
  the next matter is have you heard anything of
fanny
  nothing maam
  have you done anything
  i met farmer boldwood said jacob smallbury and
i went with him and two of his men and dragged new
mill pond but we found nothing
  and the new shepherd have been to bucks head
by yalbury thinking she had gone there but nobody
had seed her said laban tall
  hasnt william smallbury been to casterbridge
  yes maam but hes not yet come home he
promised to be back by six
  it wants a quarter to six at present said bathsheba
 
looking at her watch i daresay hell be in directly
well now then  she looked into the book  joseph
poorgrass are you there
  yes sir  maam i mane said the person addressed
i be the personal name of poorgrass
  and what are you
  nothing in my own eye in the eye of other people
  well i dont say it though public thought will out
  what do you do on the farm
  i do do carting things all the year and in seed time i
shoots the rooks and sparrows and helps at pigkilling sir
  how much to you 
  please nine and ninepence and a good halfpenny
where twas a bad one sir  maam i mane
  quite correct now here are ten shillings in addi
tion as a small present as i am a new comer
  bathsheba blushed slightly at the sense of being
generous in public and henery fray who had drawn
up towards her chair lifted his eyebrows and fingers to
express amazement on a small scale
  how much do i owe you  that man in the corner 
whats your name continued bathsheba
  matthew moon maam said a singular framework of
clothes with nothing of any consequence inside them
which advanced with the toes in no definite direction
forwards but turned in or out as they chanced to swing
  matthew mark did you say  speak out  i shall
not hurt you inquired the young farmer kindly
  matthew moon mem said henery fray correct
ingly from behind her chair to which point he had
edged himself
  matthew moon murmured bathsheba turning her
bright eyes to the book ten and twopence halfpenny
is the sum put down to you i see
  yes misess said matthew as the rustle of wind
among dead leaves
  here it is and ten shillings now the next  andrew
randle you are a new man i hear how come you to
leave your last farm
  pppppplplplplllllease maam ppppplpl
plplplease maampleasempleasem     
  as a stammering man mem said henery fray in
an undertone and they turned him away because the
only time he ever did speak plain he said his soul was
his own and other iniquities to the squire a can cuss
mem as well as you or i but a cant speak a common
speech to save his life
  andrew randle heres yours  finish thanking me
in a day or two temperance miller  oh heres another
soberness  both women i suppose
  yesm here we be a blieve was echoed in shrill
unison
  what have you been doing
  tending thrashingmachine and wimbling haybonds
and saying hoosh to the cocks and hens when they
go upon your seeds and planting early flourballs and
thompsons wonderfuls with a dibble
  yes  i see are they satisfactory women she
inquired softly of henery fray
  o mem  dont ask me yeilding women as
scarlet a pair as ever was groaned henery under his
breath
  sit down
  who mem
  sit down
  joseph poorgrass in the background twitched and
his lips became dry with fear of some terrible conse
quences as he saw bathsheba summarily speaking and
henery slinking off to a corner
  now the next laban tall youll stay on working
for me
  for you or anybody that pays me well maam
replied the young married man
  true  the man must live said a woman in the
back quarter who had just entered with clicking pattens
  what woman is that bathsheba asked
  i be his lawful wife continued the voice with
greater prominence of manner and tone this lady
called herself fiveandtwenty looked thirty passed as
thirtyfive and was forty she was a woman who never
like some newly married showed
conjugal tenderness in
public perhaps because she had none to show
  oh you are said bathsheba well laban will
you stay on 
  yes hell stay maam said again the shrill tongue
of labans lawful wife
  well he can speak for himself i suppose
  o lord not he maam a simple tool well
enough but a poor gawkhammer mortal the wife replied
  hehhehheh laughed the married man with a
hideous effort of appreciation for he was as irrepressibly
goodhumoured under ghastly snubs as a parliamentary
candidate on the hustings
  the names remaining were called in the same
manner
  now i think i have done with you said bathsheba
closing the book and shaking back a stray twine of hair
has william smallbury returned
  no maam
  the new shepherd will want a man under him
suggested henery fray trying to make himself official
again by a sideway approach towards her chair
  oh  he will who can he have
  young cain ball is a very good lad henery said
and shepherd oak dont mind his youth he added
turning with an apologetic smile to the shepherd who
had just appeared on the scene and was now leaning
against the doorpost with his arms folded
  no i dont mind that said gabriel
  how did cain come by such a name asked
bathsheba
  oh you see mem his pore mother not being a
scriptureread woman made a mistake at his christening
thinking twas abel killed cain and called en cain
but twas too late for the name could never be got rid
of in the parish tis very unfortunate for the boy
  it is rather unfortunate
  yes however we soften it down as much as we
can and call him cainey ah pore widowwoman
she cried her heart
out about it almost she was
brought up by a very heathen father and mother who
never sent her to church or school and it shows how
the sins of the parents are visited upon the children
mem
  mr fray here drew up his features to the mild degree
of melancholy required when the persons involved in
the given misfortune do not belong to your own family
  very well then cainey ball to be undershepherd
and you quite understand your duties  you i mean
gabriel oak
  quite well i thank you miss everdene said
shepard oak from the doorpost if i dont ill
inquire gabriel was rather staggered by the remark
able coolness of her manner certainly nobody without
previous information would have dreamt that oak and
the handsome woman before whom he stood had ever
been other than strangers but perhaps her air was
the inevitable result of the social rise which had advanced
her from a cottage to a large house and fields the
case is not unexampled in high places when in the
writings of the later poets jove and his family are found
to have moved from their cramped quarters on the peak
of olympus into the wide sky above it their words show
a proportionate increase of arrogance and reserve
footsteps were heard in the passage combining in
their character the qualities both of weight and measure
rather at the expense of velocity
all heres billy smallbury come from caster
bridge
 and whats the news   said bathsheba as william
after marching to the middle of the hall took a hand
kerchief from his hat and wiped his forehead from its
centre to its remoter boundaries
i should have been sooner miss he said if it
hadnt been for the weather he then stamped with
each foot severely and on looking down his boots were
perceived to be clogged with snow
come at last is it  said henery
 well what about fanny   said bathsheba
well maam in round numbers shes run away with
the soldiers said william
 no not a steady girl like fanny  
ill tell ye all particulars when i got to caster
bridge barracks they said  the eleventh dragoon
guards be gone away and new troops have come
the eleventh left last week for melchester and onwards
the route came from government like a thief in the
night as is his nature to and afore the eleventh knew
it almost they wem on the march they passed near
here
gabriel had listened with interest i saw them go
he said
 yes continued william  they pranced down the
street playing the girl i left behind me so tis
said in glorious notes of triumph every lookerons
inside shook with the blows of the great drum to his
deepest vitals and there was not a dry eye throughout
the town among the publichouse people and the name
less women 
but theyre not gone to any war
no maam but they be gone to take the places
of them who may which is very close connected and
so i said to myself fannys young man was one of the
regiment and shes gone after him there maam
thats it in black and white
gabriel remained musing and said nothing for he
was in doubt
well we are not likely to know more tonight at
any rate said bathsheba but one of you had better
run across to farmer boldwoods and tell him that
much
she then rose but before retiring addressed a few
words to them with a pretty dignity to which her
mourning dress added a soberness that was hardly to
be found in the words themselves
now mind you have a mistress instead of a master
i dont yet know my powers or my talents in farming
but i shall do my best and if you serve me well so
shall i serve you dont any unfair ones among you
if there are any such but i hope not suppose that
because im a woman i dont understand the difference
between bad goingson and good
all nom
liddy excellent well said
i shall be up before you are awake i shall be
afield before you are up  and i shall have breakfasted
before you are afield in short i shall astonish you all
all yesm
and so goodnight
all goodnight maam
then this smallthesmothete stepped from the table
and surged out of the hall her black silk dress licking
up a few straws and dragging them along with a scratch
ing noise upon the floor biddy elevating her feelings
to the occasion from a sense of grandeur floated off
behind bathsheba with a milder dignity not entirely
free from travesty and the door was closed
outside the barracks  snow  a meeting
for dreariness nothing could surpass a prospect in the
outskirts of a certain town and military station many
miles north of weatherbury at a later hour on this
same snowy evening  if that may be called a prospect
of which the chief constituent was darkness
it was a night when sorrow may come to the
brightest without causing any great sense of incongruity 
when with impressible persons love becomes solicitous
ness hope sinks to misgiving and faith to hope  when
the exercise of memory does not stir feelings of regret
at opportunities for ambition that have been passed by
and anticipation does not prompt to enterprise
the scene was a public path bordered on the left
hand by a river behind which rose a high wall on
the right was a tract of land partly meadowand partly
moor reaching at its remote verge to a wide undulating
uplan
the changes of the seasons are less obtrusive on
spots of this kind than amid woodland scenery still
to a close observer they are just as perceptible  the
difference is that their media of manifestation are less
trite and familiar than such wellknown ones as the
bursting of the buds or the fall of the leaf many are
not so stealthy and gradual as we may be apt to
imagine in considering the general torpidity of a moor
or waste winter in coming to the country hereabout
advanced in wellmarked stages wherein might have
been successively observed the retreat of the snakes
the transformation of the ferns the filling of the pools
a rising of fogs the embrowning by frost the collapse
of the fungi and an obliteration by snow
this climax of the series had been reached tonight on
the aforesaid moor and for the first time in the season
its
irregularities were forms without features  suggestive
of anything proclaiming nothing and without more
character than that of being the limit of something
else  the lowest layer of a firmament of snow from
this chaotic skyful of crowding flakes the mead and
moor momentarily received additional clothing only
to appear momentarily more naked thereby the vast
arch of cloud above was strangely low and formed as
it were the roof of a large dark cavern gradually sinking
in upon its floor for the instinctive thought was that
the snow lining the heavens and that encrusting the
earth would soon unite into one mass without any
intervening stratum of air at all
we turn our attention to the lefthand characteristics 
which were flatness in respect of the river verticality
in respect of the wall behind it and darkness as to
both these features made up the mass if anything
could be darker than the sky it was the wall and if any
thing could be gloomier than the wall it was the river
beneath the indistinct summit of the facade was
notched and pronged by chimneys here and there and
upon its face were faintly signified the oblong shapes
of windows though only in the upper part below
down to the waters edge the flat was unbroken by
hole or projection
an indescribable succession of dull blows perplexing
in their regularity sent their sound with difficulty
through the fluffy atmosphere it was a neighbouring
clock striking ten the bell was in the open air and
being overlaid with several inches of muffling snow had
lost its voiee for the time
about this hour the snow abated  ten flakes fell
where twenty had fallen then one had the room of
ten not long after a form moved by the brink of
the river
by its outline upon the colourless background a close
observer might have seen that it was small this was
all that was positively discoverable though it seemed
human
the shape went slowly along but without much
exertion for the snow though sudden was not as yet
more than two inches deep at this time some words
were spoken aloud  
 one two three four five
 between each utterance the little shape advanced
about half a dozen yards it was evident now that
the windows high
in the wall were being counted
the word five represented the fifth window from
the end of the wall
here the spot stopped and dwindled smaller the
figure was stooping then a morsel of snow flew
across the river towards the fifth window it smacked
against the wall at a point several yards from its mark
the throw was the idea of a man conjoined with the
execution of a woman no man who had ever seen bird
rabbit or squirrel in his childhood could possibly have
thrown with such utter imbecility as was shown here
another attempt and another  till by degrees the
wall must have become pimpled with the adhering
lumps of snow  at last one fragment struck the fifth
window
the river would have been seen by day to be of
that deep smooth sort which races middle and sides
with the same gliding precision any irregularities of
speed being immediately corrected by a small whirl
pool nothing was heard in reply to the signal but
the gurgle and cluck of one of these invisible wheels 
together with a few small sounds which a sad man
would have called moans and a happy man laughter 
caused by the flapping of the waters against trifling
objects in other parts of the stream
the window was struck again in the same manner
then a noise was heard apparently produced by
the opening of the window this was followed by a
voice from the same quarter
whos there  
the tones were masculine and not those of surprise
the high wall being that of a barrack and marriage
being looked upon with disfavour in the army assigna
tions and communications had probably been made
across the river before tonight
is it sergeant troy said the blurred spot in the
snow tremulously
this person was so much like a mere shade upon
the earth and the other speaker so much a part of
the building that one would have said the wall was
holding a conversation with the snow
yes came suspiciously from the shadow  what
girl are you  
o frank  dont you know me  said the spot
your wife fanny robin
 fanny  said the wall in utter astonishment
yes said the girl with a halfsuppressed gasp of
emotion
there was something in the womans tone which is
not that of the wife and there was a mannerin the man
which is rarely a husbands the dialogue went on
how did you come here 
i asked which was your window forgive me  
i did not expect you tonight indeed i did not
think you would come at all it was a wonder you
found me here i am orderly tomorrow
you said i was to come
 well  i said that you might
yes i mean that i might you are glad to see me
frank  
 o yes  of course
 can you  come to me 
my dear fan no  the bugle has sounded the
barrack gates are closed and i have no leave we are
all of us as good as in the county gaol till tomorrow
morning
 then i shant see you till then   the words were
in a faltering tone of disappointment
 how did you get here from weatherbury  
i walked  some part of the way  the rest by the
carriers
 i am surprised
 yes  so am i and frank when will it be  
 what  
 that you promised
 i dont quite recollect
 you do dont speak like that it weighs me
to the earth it makes me say what ought to be said
first by you
 never mind  say it
 must i  it is when shall we be married
frank  
 oh i  see well   you have to get proper
clothes
i have money will it be by banns or license 
 banns i should think
 and we live in two parishes
do we  what then
my lodgings are in st marys and this is not so
they will have to be published in both
is that the law
 yes o frank  you think me forward i am
afraid  dont dear frank  will you  for i love you so
and you said lots of times you would marry me and
and  i  i  i    
  dont cry now it is foolish if i said so of
course i will
and shall i put up the banns in my parish and will
you in yours
yes
tomorrow
not tomorrow well settle in a few days
you have the permission of the officers
no not yet
o  how is it you said you almost had before
you left casterbridge
the fact is i forgot to ask your coming like this
ill go away now will you qodeand seq be tomorroy
is so sudden and unexpected
yes  yes  it is it was wrong of me to worry you
ill go away now will you come and see me tomorrow
at mrs twillss in north street i dont like to come
to the barracks there are bad women about and they
think me one
quiteso ill come to you my dean goodnight
goodnight frank  goodnight
and the noise was again heard of a window closing
the little spot moved away when she passed the
corner a subdued exclamation was heard inside the
wall
ho  ho  sergeant  ho  ho an expostulation
followed but it was indistinct and it became lost amid
a low peal of laughter which was hardly distinguishable
from the gurgle of the tiny whirlpools outside
farmers  a rule  in exception
the first public evidence of bathshebas decision to
be a farmer in her own person and by proxy no more
was her appearance the following marketday in the
cornmarket at casterbridge
the low though extensive hall supported by beams
and pillars and latterly dignified bythe name of corn ex
change was thronged with hot men who talked among
each other in twos and threes the speaker of the minute
looking sideways into his auditors face and concentrating
his argument by a contraction of one eyelid during de
livery the greater number carried in their hands
groundash saplings using them partly as walkingsticks
and partly for poking up pigs sheep neighbours with
their backs turned and restful things in general which
seemed to require such treatment in the course of their
peregrinations during conversations each subjected
his sapling to great varieties of usage  bending it round
his back forming anarch of it between his two hands
overweighting it on the ground till it reached nearly a
semicircle or perhaps it was hastily tucked under the
arm whilst the samplebag was pulled forth and a hand
ful of corn poured into the palm which after criticism
was flung upon the floor an issue of events perfectly
well known to halfadozen acute townbred fowls which
had as usual crept into the building unobserved and
waited the fulfilment of their anticipations with a high
stretched neck and oblique eye
among these heavy yeomen a feminine figure glided
the single one of her sex that the room contained she
was prettily and even daintily dressed she moved
between them as a chaise between carts was heard after
them as a romance after sermons was felt among them
like a breeze among furnaces it had required a little
determination  far more than she had at
first imagined
  to take up a position here for at her first entry the
lumbering dialogues had ceased nearly every face had
been turned towards her and those that were already
turned rigidly fixed there
two or three only of the farmers were personally
known to bathsheba and to these she had made her
way but if she was to be the practical woman she had
intended to show herself business must be carried on
introductions or none and she ultimately acquired con
fidence enough to speak and reply boldly to men merely
known to her by hearsay bathsheba too had her
samplebags and by degrees adopted the professional
pour into the hand  holding up the grains in her narrow
palm for inspection in perfect casterbridge manner
something in the exact arch of her upper unbroken
row of teeth and in the keenly pointed corners of her
red mouth when with parted lips she somewhat
defiantly turned up her face to argue a point with a
tall man suggested that there was potentiality enough
in that lithe slip of humanity for alarming exploits of
sex and daring enough to carry them out but her eyes
had a softness  invariably a softness  which had they
not been dark would have seemed mistiness as they
were it lowered an expression that might have been
piercing to simple clearness
strange to say of a woman in full bloom and vigor
she always allowed her interlocutors to finish their state
ments before rejoining with hers in arguing on prices
he held to her own firmly as was natural in a dealer
and reduced theirs persistently as was inevitable in a
oman but there was an elasticity in her firmness
which removed it from obstinacy as there was a naivete
in her cheapening which saved it from meanness
those of the farmers with whom she had no dealings
by far the greater part were continually asking each
other who is she the reply would be 
farmer everdenes niece took on weatherbury
upper farm turned away the baily and swears shell do
verything herself
the other man would then shake his head
yes tis a pity shes so headstrong the first would
say but we ought to be proud of her here  she
lightens up the old place tis such a shapely maid
however that shell soon get picked up
it would be ungallant to suggest that the novelty of
her engagement in such an occupation had almost as
much to do with the magnetism as had the beauty of
her face and movements however te interest was
eneral and this saturdays debut in the forum whatever
it may have been to bathsheba as the buying and selling
farmer was unquestionably a triumph to her as the
maiden indeed the sensation was so pronounced that
her instinct on two or three occasions was merely to
valk as a queen among these gods of the fallow like a
little sister of a little jove andto neglect closing prices
altogether
the numerous evidences ofher power to attract were
only thrown into greater relief by a marked exception
women seem to have eyes in their ribbons for such
matters as these bathsheba without looking within
a right angle of him was conscious of a black sheep
among the flock
it perplexed her first if there had been a respect
able minority on either side the case would have been
most natural if nobody had regarded her she would
have  taken the matter indifferently  such cases had
occurred if eveybody this man included she would
have taken it as a matter of course  people had done
so before but the smallness of the exception made the
mystery
she soon knew thus much of the recusants appear
ance he was a gentlemanly man with full and
distinctly outlined roman features the prominences
of which glowed in the sun with a bronzelike richness
of tone he was erect in attitude and quiet in
demeanour one characteristic preeminently marked
him  dignity
apparently he had some time ago reached that
entrance to middle age at which a mans aspect naturally
ceases to alter for the term of a dozen years or so and
artificially a womant does likewise   thirtyfive and
fifiy were his limits of variation  he might have been
either or anywhere between the two
it may be said that married men of forty are usually
ready
and generous enough to fling passing glances at
any specimen of moderate beauty they may discern by
the way probably as with persons playing whist for
love the consciousness of a certain immunity under
any circumstances from that worst possible ultimate
the having to pay makes them unduly speculative
bathsheba was convinced that this unmoved person
was not a married man
when marketing was over she rushed off to liddy
who was waiting for her  beside the yellowing in which
they had driven to town the horse was put in and
on they trotted bathshebas sugar tea and drapery
parcels being packed behind and expeessing in some
indescribable manner by their colour shape and
general lineaments that they were that youmg lady
farmers property and the grocers and drapers no
more
 ive been through it liddy and it is over i shant
mind it again for they will all have grown accustomed
to seeing me there but this morning it was as bad as
being married  eyes everywhere
i knowed it would be liddy said men be such
a terrible class of society to look at a body
but there was one man who had more sense than
to waste his time upon me the information was put
in this form that liddy might not for a moment suppose
her mistress was at all piqued a very goodlooking
man she continued upright about forty i should
think do you know at all who he could be
liddy couldnt think
cant you guess at all said bathsheba with some
disappointment
i havent a notion besides tis no difference since
he took less notice of you than any of the rest now
if hed taken more it would have mattered a great deal
bathsheba was suffering from the reverse feeling just
then and they bowled along in silence a low carriage
bowling along still more rapidly behind a horse of un
impeachable breed overtook and passed them
why there he is she said
liddy looked that thats farmer boldwood 
of course
tis  the man you couldnt see the other day
when he called
oh farmer boldwood murmured bathsheba and
looked at him as he outstripped them the farmer had
never turned his head once but with eyes fixed on the
most advanced point along the road passed as uncon
sciously and abstractedly as if bathshea and her charms
were thin air
hes an interesting man  dont you think so she
remarked
o yes very everybody owns it replied liddy
i wonder why he is so wrapt up and indifferent and
seemingly so far away from all he sees around him
it is said  but not known for certain  that he met
with some bitter disappointment when he was a young
man and merry a woman jilted him they say
people always say that  and we know very well
women scarcely ever jilt men tis the men who jilt us
i expect it is simply his nature to be so reserved
simply his nature  i expect so miss  nothing else
in the world
still tis more romantic to think he has been served
cruelly poor thing perhaps after all he has i
depend upon it he has o yes miss he has
feel he must have
however we are very apt to think extremes of
people i   shouldnt wonder after all if it wasnt a
little of both  just between the two  rather cruelly
used and rather reserved
o dear no miss  i cant think it between the
two
thats most likely
well yes so it is i am convinced it is most likely
you may   take my word miss that thats whats the
matter with him
sortes sanctorum  the valentine
it was sunday afternoon in the farmhouse on the
thirteenth of february dinner being over bathsheba
for want of a better companion had asked liddy to
come and sit with her the mouldy pile was dreary
in wintertime before the candles were lighted and the
shutters closed  the atmosphere of the place seemed
as old as the walls every nook behind the furniture
had a temperature of its own for the fire was not
kindled in this part of the house early in the day
and bathshebas new piano which was an old one
in other annals looked particularly sloping and out
of level on the warped floor before night threw a
shade over its less prominent angles and hid the
unpleasantness liddy like a little brook though
shallow was always rippling her presence had not so
much weight as to task thought and yet enough to
exercise it
on the table lay an old quarto bible bound in
leather liddy looking at it said 
did you ever find out miss who you are going to
marry by means of the bible and key 
dont be so foolish liddy as if such things
could be
 well theres a good deal in it all the same
 nonsense child
 and it makes your heart beat fearful some believe
in it some dont i do
very well lets try it said bathsheba bounding
from her seat with that total disregard of consistency
which can be indulged in towards a dependent and
entering into the spirit of divination at once go and
get the front door key
liddy fetched it i wish it wasnt sunday she
said on returning  perhaps tis wrong
 whats right week days is right sundays replied her
mistress in a tone which was a proof in itself
the book was opened  the leaves drab with age
being quite worn away at muchread verses by the fore
fingers of unpractised readers in former days where they
were moved along under the line as an aid to the vision
the special verse in the book of ruth was sought out
by bathsheba and the sublime words met her eye they
slightly thrilled and abashed her it was wisdom in
the abstract facing folly in the concrete folly in the
concrete blushed persisted in her intention and placed
the key on the book a rusty patch immediately upon
the verse caused by previous pressure of an iron
substance thereon told that this was not the first time
the old volume had been used for the purpose
now keep steady and be silent said bathsheba
the verse was repeated the book turned round 
bathsheba blushed guiltily
who did you try  said liddy curiously
i shall not tell you
did you notice mr boldwoods doings in church
this morning miss  liddy continued adumbrating by
the remark the track her thoughts had taken
no indeed said bathsheba with serene indifference
 his pew is exactly opposite yours miss
i know it
and you did not see his goings on 
certainly i did not i tell you
liddy assumed a smaller physiognomy and shut
her lips decisively
this move was unexpected and proportionately dis
concerting  what did he do bathsheba said perforce
didnt turn his head to look at you once all the
service
why should he again demanded her mistress
wearing a nettled look i didnt ask him to
oh no but everybody else was noticing you  and
it was odd he didnt there tis like him rich and
gentlemanly what does he care  
bathsheba dropped into a silence intended to ex
press that she had opinions on the matter too abstruse
for liddys comprehension rather than that she had
nothing to say

dear me  i had nearly forgotten the valentine
i bought yesterday she exclaimed at length
valentine  who for miss   said liddy  farmer
boldwood 
it was the single name among all possible wrong
ones that just at this moment seemed to bathsheba
more pertinent than the right
well no it is only for little teddy coggan
have promised him something and this will be a pretty
surprise for him liddy you may as well bring me
my desk and ill direct it at once
bathsheba took from her desk a gorgeously illumin
ated and embossed design in postoctavo which had
been bought on the previous marketday at the chief
stationers in casterbridge in the eentre was a small
oval enclosure  this was left blank that the sender
might insert tender words more appropriate to the
special occasion than any generalities by a printer
could possibly be
 heres a place for writing said bathsheba what
shall i put 
 something of this sort i should think returned
liddy promptly  
 the rose is red
 the violet blue
 camations sweet
 and so are you
 yes that shall be it it just suits itself to a chubby
faced child like him said bathsheba she inserted the
words in a small though legible handwriting enelosed
the sheet in an envelope and dipped her pen for the
direction
what fun it would be to send it to the stupid old
boldwood and how he would wonder  said the
irrepressible liddy lifting her eyebrows and indulging
in an awful mirth on the verge of fear as she thought
of the moral and social magnitude of the man contem
plated
bathsheba paused to regard the idea at full length
boldwoods had begun to be a troublesome image  a
species of daniel in her kingdom who persisted in
kneeling eastward
when reason and common sense
said that he might just as well follow suit with the
rest and afford her the official glance of admiration
which cost nothing at all she was far from being
seriously concerned about his nonconformity still
it was faintly depressing that the most dignified and
valuable man in the parish should withhold his eyes
and that a girl like liddy should talk about it so
liddys idea was at first rather harassing than piquant
 no i wont do that he wouldnt see any humour
in it
 hed worry to death said the persistent liddy
 really i dont care particularly to send it to
teddy remarked her mistress  hes rather a naughty
child sometimes
 yes  that he is
 lets toss as men do said bathsheba idly now
then head boldwood  tail teddy no we wont toss
money on a sunday that would be tempting the devil
indeed
toss this hymnbook there cant be no sinfulness
in that miss
very well open boldwood  shut teddy no
its more likely to fall open open teddy  shut
boldwood
the book went fluttering in the air and came down shut
bathsheba a small yawn upon her mouth took the
pen and with offhand serenity directed the missive to
boldwood
now light a candle liddy which seal shall we
use heres a unicorns head   theres nothing in
that whats this   two doves  no it ought to be
something extraodinary ought it not lidd heres
one with a motto  i remember it is some funny one
but i cant read it well try this and if it doent
do well have another
a large red seal was duly affixed bathsheba looked
closely at the hot wax to discover the words
capital she exclaimed throwing down the letter
frolicsomely  twould upset the solemnity of a parson
 
the same evening the letter was sent and was duly
returned to weatherbury again in the morning
of love as a spectacle bathsheba had a fair knowledge
but of love subjectively she knew nothing
effect of the letter  sunrise
at dusk on the evening of st valentines day bold
wood sat down to supper as usual by a beaming fire
of aged logs upon the matelshelf before him was
a timepiece surmounted by a spread eagle and upon
the eagles wings was the letter bathsheba had sent
here the bachelors gaze was continually fastening
itself till the large red seal became as a blot of blood
on the retina of his eye and as he ate and drank he
still read in fancy the words thereon although they
were too remote for his sight 
 marry me
the pert injunction was like those crystal substances
which colourless themselves assume the tone of objects
about them here in the quiet of boldwoods parlour
where everything that was not grave was extraneous
and where the atmosphere was that of a puritan sunday
lasting all the week the letter and its dictum changed
their tenor from the thoughtlessness of their origin to
a deep solemnity imbibed from their accessories
now
since the receipt of the missive in the morning
boldwood had felt the symmetry of his existence to
be slowly getting distorted in the direction of an ideal
passion the disturbance was as the first floating
weed to columbus  the eontemptibly little suggesting
possibilities of the infinitely great
the letter must have had an origin and a motive
that the latter was of the smallest magnitude com
patible with its existence at all boldwood of course
did not know and such an explanation did not
strike him as a possibility even it is foreign to a
mystified condition of mind to realize of the mystifier
that the processes of approving a course suggested by
circumstance and of striking out a course from inner
impulse would look the same in the result the vast
difference between
starting a train of events and direct
ing into a particular groove a series already started is
rarely apparent to the person confounded by the
issue
when boldwood went to bed he placed the valen
tine in the corner of the lookingglass he was
conscious of its presence even when his back was
turned upon it it was the first time in boldwoods
life that such an event had occurred the same
fascination that caused him to think it an act which had
a deliberate motive prevented him from regarding it as
an impertinence he looked again at the direction
the mysterious influences of night invested the writing
with the presence of the unknown writer somebodys
some womans  hand had travelled softly over the
paper bearing his name  her unrevealed eyes had
watched every curve as she formed it  her brain had
seen him in imagination the while why should
she have imagined him  her mouth  were the lips
red or pale plump or creased  had curved itself to a
certain expression as the pen went on  the corners had
moved with all their natural tremulousness  what had
been the expression 
the vision of the woman writing as a supplement to
the words written had no individuality she was a
misty shape and well she might be considering that
her original was at that moment sound asleep and
oblivious of all love and letterwriting under the sky
whenever boldwood dozed she took a form and com
paratively ceased to be a vision  when he awoke there
was the letter justifying the dream
the moon shone tonight and its light was not of
a customary kind his window admitted only a
reflection of its rays and the pale sheen had that
reversed direction which snow gives coming upward
and lighting up his ceiling in an unnatural way casting
shadows in strange places and putting lights where
shadows had used to be
the substance of the epistle had occupied him but
little in comparison with the fact of its arrival he
suddenly wondered if anything more might be found in
the envelope than what he had withdrawn he jumped
out of bed in the weird light took the letter pulled out
the flimsy sheet shook the envelope  searched it
nothing more was there boldwood looked as he
had a hundred times the preceding day at the insistent red
seal   marry me he said aloud
the solemn and reserved yeoman again closed the
letter and stuck it in the frame of the glass in doing
so he caught sight of his reflected features wan in
expression and insubstantial in form he saw how
closely compressed was his mouth and that his eyes
were widespread and vacant feeling uneasy and dis
satisfied with himself for this nervous excitability he
returned to bed
then the dawn drew on the full power of the
clear heaven was not equal to that of a cloudy sky at
noon when boldwood arose and dressed himself he
descended the stairs and went out towards the gate of
a field to the east leaning over which he paused and
looked around
it was one of the usual slow sunrises of this time of
the year and the sky pure violet in the zenith was
leaden to the northward and murky to the east where
over the snowy down or ewelease on weatherbury
upper farm and apparently resting upon the ridge the
only half of the sun yet visible burnt rayless like a red
and flameless fire shining over a white hearthstone
the whole effect resembled a sunset as childhood
resembles age
in other directions the fields and sky were so much
of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a
hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred 
and in general there was here too that beforementioned
preternatural inversion of light and shade which attends
the prospect when the garish brightness commonly in
the sky is found on the earth and the shades of earth
are in the sky over the west hung the wasting moon
now dull and greenishyellow like tarnished brass
boldwood was listlessly noting how the frost had
hardened and glazed the surface of the snow till it
shone in the red eastern light with the polish of marble
how in some portions of the slope withered grassbents
encased in icicles bristled through the smooth wan
coverlet in the twisted and curved shapes of old
venetian glass and how the footprints of a few birds
which had hopped over the snow whilst it lay in the
state of a soft fleece were now frozen to a short perma
nency a halfmuffled noise of light wheels interrupted
him boldwood turned back into the road it was
the mailcart  a crazy twowheeled vehicle hardly
heavy enough to resist a puff of wind the driver held
out a letter boldwood seized it and opened it ex
pecting another anonymous one  so greatly are peoples
ideas of probability a mere sense that precedent will
repeat itself
i dont think it is for you sir said the man when
he saw boldwoods action though there is no name
i think it is for your shepherd
boldwood looked then at the address 
to the new shepherd
weatherbury farm
near casterbridge
oh  what a mistake   it is not mine nor is it
for my shepherd it is for miss everdenes you had
better take it on to him  gabriel oak  and say i opencd
it in mistake
at this moment on the ridge up against the blazing
sky a figure was visible like the black snuff in the
midst of a candleflame then it moved and began to
bustle about vigorously from place to place carrying
square skeleton masses which were riddled by the same
rays a small figure on all fours followed behind the
tall form was that of gabriel oak  the small one that
of george  the articles in course of transit were hurdles
wait said boldwood  thats the man on the hill
ill take the letter to him myself
to boldwood it was now no longer merely a letter to
i another man it was an opportunity exhibiting a
face pregnant with intention he entered the snowy field
gabriel at that minute descended the hill towards
the right the glow stretched down in this direction
now and touched the distant roof of warrens malthouse
whither the shepherd was apparently bent   boldwood
followed at a distance
the scarlet and orange light outside the malthouse did
not penetrate to its interior which was as usual lighted
by a rival glow of similar hue radiating from the hearth
the maltster after having lain down in his clothes
for a few hours was now sitting beside a threeleggcd
table breakfasting of bread and bacon this was
eaten on the plateless system which is performed by
placing a slice of bread upon the table the meat flat
upon the bread a mustard plaster upon the meat and
a pinch of salt upon the whole then cutting them
vertically downwards with a large pocketknife till wood
is reached when the severed lamp is impaled on the
knife elevated and sent the proper way of food
the maltsters lack of teeth appeared not to sensibly
diminish his powers as a mill he had been without
them for so many years that toothlessness was felt less
to be a defect than hard gums an acquisition indeed
he seemed to approach the grave as a hyperbolic curve
approaches a stmight line  less directly as he got nearer
till it was doubtful if he would ever reach it at all
in the ashpit was a heap of potatoes roasting and a
boiling pipkin of charred bread callcd coffee for the
benefit of whomsoever should call for warrens was a
sort of clubhouse used as an alternative to the in
i say says i we get a fine day and then down
comes a snapper at night was a remark now suddenly
heard spreading into the malthouse from the door which
had been opened the previous moment the form of
henery fray advanced to the fire stamping the snow
from his boots when about halfway there the speech
and entry had not seemed to be at all an abrupt begin
ning to the maltster introductoy matter being often
omitted in this neighbourhood both from word and
deed and the maltster having the same latitude allowed
him did not hurry to reply he picked up a fragment
of cheese by pecking upon it with his knife as a butcher
picks up skewers
henery appeared in a drab kerseymere greatcoat
buttoned over his smockfrock the white skirts of the
latter being visible to the distance of about a foot below
the coattails which when you got used to the style of
dress looked natural enough and even ornamental  it
certainly was comfortable
matthew moon joseph poorgrass and other carters
and waggoners followed at his heels with great lanterns
dangling from their hands which showed that they had
just come from the carthorse stables where they had
been busily engaged since four oclock that morning
and how is she getting on without a baily the
maltster inquired
henery shook his head and smiled one of the bitter
smiles dragging all the flesh of his forehead into a
corrugated heap in the centre
 shell rue it  surely surely   he said  benjy
pennyways were not a true man or an honest baily 
as big a betrayer as joey iscariot himself but to think
she can carr on alone  he allowed his head to swing
laterally three or four times in silence  never in all my
creeping up  never 
this was recognized by all as the conclusion of some
gloomy speech which had been expressed in thought
alone during the shake of the head henery meanwhile
retained several marks of despair upon his face to
imply that they would be required for use again directly
he should go on speaking
all will be ruined and ourselves too or theres no
meat in gentlemens houses said mark clark
a headstrong maid thats what she is  and wont
listen to no advice at all pride and vanity have ruined
many a cobblers dog dear dear when i think o it
i sorrows like a man in travel  
true henery you do ive heard ye said joseph
poorgrass in a voice of thorough attestation and with
a wiredrawn smile of misery
twould do a martel man no harm to have whats
under
her bonnet said billy smallbury who had just
entered bearing his one tooth before him she can
spaik real language and must have some sense some
where do ye foller me 
i do but no baily  i deserved that place wailed
henery signifying wasted genius by gazing blankly at
visions of a high destiny apparently visible to him on
billy smallburys smockfrock  there twas to be i
suppose your lot is your lot and scripture is nothing
for if you do good you dont get rewarded according to
your works but be cheated in some mean way out of
your recompense
no no i dont agree withee there said mark
clark gods a perfect gentleman in that respect
good works good pay so to speak it attested
joseph poorgrass
a short pause ensued and as a sort of entracte
henery turned and blew out the lanterns which the
increase of daylight rendered no longer necessary even
in the malthouse with its one pane of glass
i wonder what a farmerwoman can want with a
harpsichord dulcimer pianner or whatever tis they dcall
it said the maltster liddy saith sheve a new one
got a pianner
ay seems her old uncles things were not good
enough for her sheve bought all but everything new
theres heavy chairs for the stout weak and wiry ones
for the slender great watches getting on to the size
of clocks to stand upon the chimbleypiece
pictures for the most part wonderful frames
 and long horsehair settles for the drunk with horse
hair pillows at each end said mr clark  likewise
lookingglasses for the pretty and lying books for the
wicked
a firm loud tread was now heard stamping outside
the door was opened about six inches and somebody on
the other side exclaimed 
neighbours have ye got room for a few newborn
lambs
 ay sure shepherd said the conclave
the door was flung back till it kicked the wall and
trembled from top to bottom with the blow mr
oak appeared in the
entry with a steaming face hay
bands wound about his ankles to keep out the snow a
leather strap round his waist outside the smockfrock
and looking altogether an epitome of the worlds health
and vigour four lambs hung in various embarrassing
attitudes over his shoulders and the dog george whom
gabriel had contrived to fetch from norcombe stalked
solemnly behind
 well shepherd oak and hows lambing this year
if i mid say it inquired joseph poorgrass
terrible trying said oak ive been wet through
twice aday either in snow or rain this last fortnight
cainy and i havent tined our eyes tonight
a good few twins too i hear 
too many by half yes  tis a very queer lambing
this year we shant have done by lady day
and last year twer all over by sexajessamine
sunday joseph remarked
bring on the rest cain said gabriel  and then run
back to the ewes ill follow you soon
cainy ball  a cheeryfaced young lad with a small
circular orifice by way of mouth advanced and deposited
two others and retired as he was bidden oak lowered
the lambs from their unnatural elevation wrapped them
in hay and placed them round the fire
 weve no lambinghut here as i used to have at
norcombe said gabriel  and tis such a plague to bring
the weakly ones to a house if twasnt for your place
here malter i dont know what i should do this keen
weather and how is it with you today malter 
 oh neither sick nor sorry shepherd  but no
younger
 ay  i understand
sit down shepherd oak continued the ancient man
of malt  and how was the old place at norcombe
when ye went for your dog i should like to see the
old familiar spot  but faith i shouldnt know a soul
there now
 i suppose you wouldnt tis altered very much
is it true that dicky hills wooden ciderhouse is
pulled down
 o yes  years ago and dickys cottage just above it
well to be sure
 yes  and tompkinss old appletree is rooted that
used to bear two hogsheads of cider and no help from
other trees
rooted  you dont say it ah stirring times we
live in  stirring times
and you can mind the old well that used to be in
the middle of the place thats turned into a solid
iron pump with a large stone trough and all complete
dear dear  how the face of nations alter and
what we live to see nowadays yes  and tis the same
here theyve been talking but now of the misesss
strange doings
 what have you been saying about her inquired
oak sharply turning to the rest and getting very
warm
 these middleaged men have been pulling her over
the coals for pride and vanity said mark clark but
i say let her have rope enough bless her pretty face
shouldnt i like to do so  upon her cherry lips
the gallant mark clark here made a peculiar and well
known sound with his own
 mark said gabriel sternly now you mind this 
none of that dalliancetalk  that smackandcoddle style
of yours  about miss everdene i dont allow it do
you hear 
 with all my heart as ive got no chance replied
mr clark cordially
 i suppose youve been speaking against her  said
oak turning to joseph poorgrass with a very grim
look
no no  not a word i  tis a real joyful thing that
shes no worse thats what i say said joseph trembling
and blushing with terror  matthew just said    
 matthew moon what have you been saying   asked
oak
i why ye know i wouldnt harm a worm  no
not one underground worm  said matthew moon
looking very uneasy
well somebody has  and look here neighbours
gabriel though one of the quietest and most gentle
men on earth rose to the occasion with martial
promptness and vigour thats my fist here he
placed his fist rather smaller in size than a common
loaf in the mathemarical centre of the maltsters little
table and with it gave a bump or two thereon as if
to ensure that their eyes all thoroughly took in the
idea of fistiness before he went further now  the
first man in the parish that i hear prophesying bad of
our mistress why here the fist was raised and let fall
as thor might have done with his hammer in assaying
it  hell smell and taste that  or im a dutchman
all earnestly expressed by their features that their
minds did not wander to holland for a moment on
account of this statement but were deploring the
difference which gave rise to the figure  and mark
clark cried hear hear just what i should ha said
the dog george looked up at the same time after the
shepherds menace and though he understood english
but imperfectly began to growl
 now dont ye take on so shepherd and sit down
said henery with a deprecating peacefulness equal to
anything of the kind in christianity
we hear that ye bc a extraordinary good and
clever man shepherd said joseph poorgrass with
considerable anxiety from behind the maltsters bed
stead whither he had retired for safety tis a great
thing to be clever im sure he added making move
ments associated with states of mind rather than body 
 we wish we were dont we neighbours  
ay that we do sure said matthew moon with
a small anxious laugh towards oak to show how very
friendly disposed he was likewise
 whos been telling you im clever said oak
tis blowed about from pillar to post quite common
said matthew  we hear that ye can tell the tme as
well by the stars as we can by the sun and moon
shepherd
 yes i can do a little that way said gabriel as a
man of medium sentiments on the subject
names upon their waggons almost like copperplate
with beautiful flourishes and great long tails a
excellent fine thing for ye to be such a clever man
shepherd joseph poorgrass used to prent to farmer
james everdenes waggons before you came and a
could never mind which way to turn the js and es
  could ye joseph joseph shook his head to express
how absolute was
the fact that he couldnt and so
you used to do em the wrong way like this didnt ye
joseph  matthew marked on the dusty floor with his
whiphandle
lames
and how farmer james would cuss and call thee a
fool wouldnt he joseph when a seed his name
looking so insideoutlike  continued matthew moon
with feeling
ay  a would said joseph meekly  but you see
i wasnt so much to blame for them js and es be
such trying sons o witches for the memory to mind
whether they face backward or forward  and i always
had such a forgetful memory too
tis a bad afiction for ye being such a man of
calamities in other ways
 well tis  but a happy providence ordered that it
should be no worse and i feel my thanks as to
shepherd there im sure misess ought to have made
ye her baily  such a fitting man fort as you be
i dont mind owning that i expected it said oak
frankly  indeed i hoped for the place at the same
time miss everdene has a right to be own baily if
she choose  and to keep me down to be a common
shepherd only oak drew a slow breath looked sadly
into the bright ashpit and seemed lost in thoughts not
of the most hopeful hue
the genial warmth of the fire now began to stimulate
the nearly lifeless lambs to bleat and move their limbs
briskly upon the hay and to recognize for the first time
the fact that they were born their noise increased to a
chorus of baas upon which oak pulled the milkcan from
before the fire and taking a small teapot from the pocket
of his smockfrock filled it with milk and taught those of
the helpless creatures which were not to be restored to
their dams how to drink from the spout  a trick they
acquired with astonishing aptitude
and she dont even let ye have the skins of the
dead lambs i hear resumed joseph poorgrass his
eyes lingering on the operations of oak with the neces
sary melancholy
i dont have them said gabriel
ye be very badly used shepherd hazardcd joseph
again in
the hope of getting oak as an ally in lamenta
tion after all i think shes took against ye  that
i do
o no  not at all replied gabriel hastily and a
sigh escaped him which the deprivation of lamb skins
could hardly have caused
before any further remark had been added a shade
darkened the door and boldwood entered the malthouse
bestowing upon each a nod of a quality between friendli
ness and condescension
ah oak i thought you were here he said i
met the mailcart ten minutes ago and a letter was put
into my hand which i opened without reading the
address i believe it is yours you must excuse the
accident please
o yes  not a bit of difference mr boldwood 
not a bit said gabriel readily he had not a corre
spondent on earth nor was there a possible letter coming
to him whose contents the whole parish would not have
been welcome to persue
oak stepped aside and read the following in an
unknown hand 
 dear friend  i do not know your name but l think
these few lines will reach you which i wrote to thank you
for your kindness to me the night i left weatherbury in a
reckless way i also return the money i owe you which
you will excuse my not keeping as a gift all has ended
well and i am happy to say i am going to be married to
the young man who has courted me for some time  sergeant
troy of the th dragoon guards now quartered in this
town he would i know object to my having received
anything except as a loan being a man of great respecta
bility and high honour  indeed a nobleman by blood
 i should be much obliged to you if you would keep the
contents of this letter a secret for the present dear friend
we mean to surprise weatherbury by coming there soon
as husband and wife though l blush to state it to one nearly
a strangen the sergeant grew up in weatherbury thank
ing you again for your kindness
i am your sincere wellwisher
 fannv robin
 have you read it mr boldwood said gabriel
if not you had better do so i know you are interested
in fanny robin
boldwood read the letter and looked grieved
fanny  poor fanny the end she is so confident
of has not yet come she should remember  and may
never come i see she gives no address
what sort of a man is this sergeant troy said
gabriel
hm  im afraid not one to build much hope upon
in such a case as this the farmer murmured though
hes a clever fellow and up to everything a slight
romance attaches to him too his mother was a french
governess and it seems that a secret attachment existed
between her and the late lord severn she was married
to a poor medical man and soon after an infant was
horn and while money was forthcoming all went on
well unfortunately for her boy his best friends died
and he got then a situation as second clerk at a lawyers
in casterbridge he stayed there for some time and
might have worked himself into a dignified position of
some sort had he not indulged in the wild freak of
enlisting i have much doubt if ever little fanny will
surprise us in the way she mentions  very much doubt
a silly girl  silly girl
the door was hurriedly burst open again and in
came running cainy ball out of breath his mouth red
and open like the bell of a penny trumpet from which
he coughed with noisy vigour and great distension of face
now cain ball said oak sternly why will you
run so fast and lose your breath so im always telling
you of it
oh  i  a puff of mee breath  went  the  wrong
way please mister oak and made me cough  hok 
hok
well   what have you come for
ive run to tell ye said the junior shepherd
supporting his exhausted youthful frame against the
doorpost  that you must come directly two more ewes
have twinned  thats whats the matter shepherd oak
 oh thats it said oak jumping up and dimissing
for the present his thoughts on poor fanny  you are
a good boy to run and tell me cain and you shall
smell a large plum pudding some day as a treat but
before we go cainy bring the tarpot and well mark
this lot and have done with em
oak took from his illimitable pockets a marking iron
dipped it into the pot and imprintcd on the buttocks
of the infant sheep the initials of her he delighted to
muse on  b e which signified to all the region
round that henceforth the lambs belonged to farmer
bathsheba everdene and to no one else
 now cainy shoulder your two and off good
morning mr boldwood the shepherd lifted the
sixteen large legs and four small bodies he had himself
brought and vanished with them in the direction of
the lambing field hard by  their frames being now in a
sleek and hopeful state pleasantly contrasting with their
deathsdoor plight of hialf an hour before
boldwood followed him a little way up the field
hesitated and turned back he followed him again
with a last resolve annihilating return on approaching
the nook in which the fold was constructed the farmer
drew outhis pocketbook unfastenedit and allowed it
to lie open on his hand a letter was revealed  bath
shebas
i was going to ask you oak he said with unreal
carelessness if you know whose writing this is 
oak glanced into the book and replied instantly
with a flushed face  miss everdenes
oak had coloured simply at the consciousness of
sounding her name he now felt a strangely distressing
qualm from a new thought  the letter could of course
be no other than anonymous or the inquiry would not
have been necessary
boldwood mistook his confusion  sensitive persons
are always ready with their is it i   in prefercnce to
objective reasoning
 the question was perfectly fair he returned  and
there was something incongruous in the serious eamest
ness with which he applied himself to an argument on
a valentine  you know it is always expected that
privy inquiries will be made  thats where the  fun
lies if the word fun had been torture it could
not have been uttered with a more constrained and
restless countenance than was boldwoods then
soon parting from gabriel the lonely and reserved
man returned to his house to breakfast  feeling twinges
of shame and regret at having so far exposed his mood
by those fevered
questions to a stranger he again
placed the letter on the mantelpiece and sat down to
think of the circumstances attending it by the light of
gabriels information
all saints and all souls
all saints and all souls
on a weekday morning a small congregation con
sisting mainly of women and girls rose from its knees
in the mouldy nave of a church called all saints in
the distant barracktown before mentioned at the end
of a service without a sermon they were about to
disperse when a smart footstep entering the porch and
coming up the central passage arrested their attention
the step echoed with a ring unusual in a church it
was the clink of spurs everybody looked a young
cavalry soldier in a red uniform with the three chevrons
of a sergeant upon his sleeve strode up the aisle with
an embarrassment which was only the more marked
by the intense vigour of his step and by the deter
mination upon his face to show none a slight flush
had mounted his cheek by the time he had run the
gauntlet between these women  but passing on through
the chancel arch he never paused till he came close
to the altar railing here for a moment he stood
alone
the officiating curate who had not yet doffed his
surplice perceived the newcomer and followed him
to the communionspace he whispered to the soldier
and then beckoned to the clerk who in his turn
whispered to an elderly woman apparently his wife and
they also went up the chancel steps
tis a wedding murmured some of the women
brightening  lets wait
the majority again sat down
there was a creaking of machinery behind and
some of the young ones turned their heads from the
interior face of the west wall of the tower projected a
little canopy with a quarterjack and small bcll beneath
it the automaton being driven by the same clock
machinery that struck the large bell in the tower be
tween the tower and the church was a close sereen the
door of which was kept shut during services hiding
this
grotesque clockwork from sight at present how
ever the door was open and the egress of the jack the
blows on the bell and the mannikins retreat intcthe
nook again were visible to many and audible through
out the church
the jack had struck halfpast eleven
 wheres the woman  whispered some of the
spectators
the young sergeant stood still with the abnormal
rigidity of the old pillars around he faced the south
east and was as silent as he was still
the silence grew to be a noticeable thing as the
minutes went on and nobody else appeared and not a
soul moved the rattle of the quarterjack again from
its niche its blows for threequarters its fussy retreat
were almost painfully abrupt and caused many of the
congregation to start palpably
i wonder where the woman is a voice whispered
again
there began now that slight shifting of feet that
artificial coughing among several which betrays a
nervous suspense at length there was a titter but
the soldier never moved there he stood his face to
the southeast upright as a column his cap in his hand
the clock ticked on the women threw off their
nervousness and titters and giggling became more
frequent then came a dead silence every one was
waiting for the end some persons may have noticed
how extraordinarily the striking of quarters seems to
quicken the flight of time it was hardly credible that
the jack had not got wrong with the minutes when the
rattle began again the puppet emerged and the four
quarters were struck fitfully as before one could al
most be positive that there was a malicious leer upon
the hideous creatures face and a mischievous delight
in its twitchings then followed the dull and remote
resonance of the twelve heavy strokes in the tower
above the women were impressed and there was no
giggle this time
the clergyman glided into the vestry and the clerk
vanished the sergeant had not yet turned  every
woman in the church was waiting to see his face and
he appeared to know it at last he did turn and
stalked resolutely down the nave braving them all
with a compressed lip two bowed and toothless old
almsmen then looked at each other and chuckled
innocently enough  but the sound had a strange weird
effect in that place
opposite to the church was a paved square around
which several overhanging wood buildings of old time
cast a picturesque shade the young man on leaving
the door went to cross the square when in the middle
he met a little woman the expression of her face
which had been one of intense anxiety sank at the
sight of his nearly to terror
 well   he said in a suppressed passion fixedly
looking at her
 o frank  i made a mistake  i thought that
church with the spire was all saints and i was at the
door at halfpast eleven to a minute as you said
waited till a quarter to twelve and found then that i
was in all souls but i wasnt much frightened for
i thought it could be tomorrow as well
you fool for so fooling me but say no more
 shall it be tomonow frank   she asked blankly
tomorrow  and he gave vent to a hoarse laugh
i dont go through that experience again for some
time i warrant you  
 but after all she expostulated in a trembling voice
the mistake was not such a terrible thing now dear
frank when shall it be
ah when  god knows  he said with a light
irony and turning from her walked rapidly away
in the marketplace
on saturday boldwood was in casterbridge market
house as usual when the disturber of his dreams entered
and became visible to him adam had awakened from
his deep sleep and behold there was eve the
farmer took courage and for the first time really looked
at her
material causes and emotional effects are not to be
arranged in regular equation the result from capital
employed in the production of any movement of a
mental nature is sometimes as tremendous as the cause
itself is absurdly minute when women are in a freakish
mood their usual intuition either from carelessness or
inherent defect seemingly fails to teaeh them this and
hence it was that bathsheba was fated to be astonished
today
boldwood looked at her  not slily critically or
understandingly but blankly at gaze in the way a
reaper looks up at a passing train  as something foreign
to his element and but dimly understood to bold
wood women had been remote phenomena rather than
necessary complements  comets of such uncertain
aspeet movement and permanence that whether
their orbits were as geometrical unchangeable and
as subject to laws as his own or as absolutely erratic
as they superficially appeared he had not deemed it
his duty to consider
he saw her black hair her correct facial curves
and profile and the roundness of her chin and throat
he saw then the side of her eyelids eyes and lashes
and the shape of her ear next he noticed her figure
her skirt and the very soles of her shoes
boldwood thought her beautiful but wondered
whether he was right in his thought for it seemed
impossible that this romance in the flesh if so sweet
as he imagined could have
been going on long without
creating a commotion of delight among men and pro
voking more inquiry than bathsheba had done even
though that was not a little to the best of his judg
ment neither nature nor art could improve this perfect
one of an imperfect many his heart began to move
within him boldwood it must be remembered though
forty years of age had never before inspected a woman
with the very centre and force of his glance they had
struck upon all his senses at wide angles
was she really beautiful he could not assure
himself that his opinion was true even now he fur
tively said to a neighbour is miss everdene considered
handsome
 yes she was a good deal notied the first
time she came if you remember a very handsome
girl indeed
a man is never more credulous than in receiving
favourable opinions on the beauty of a woman he is
half or quite in love with a mere childs word on the
point has the weight of an ras boldwood was
satisfied now
and this charming woman had in effect said to
him marry me why should she have done that
strange thing  boldwoods blindness to the difference
between approving of what circumstances suggest and
originating what they do not suggest was well matched
by bathshebas insensibility to the possibly great issues
of little beginnings
she was at this moment coolly dealing with a dashing
young farmer adding up accounts with him as indiffer
ently as if his face had been the pages of a ledger it
was evident that such a nature as his had no attraction
for a woman of bathshebas taste but boldwood grew
hot down to his hands with an incipient jealousy he
trod for the first time the threshold of the injured
lovers hell his first impulse was to go and thrust
himself between them this could be done but only
in one way  by asking to see a sample of her corn
boldwood renounced the idea he could not make
the request it was debasing loveliness to ask it to
buy and sell and jarred with his conceptions of her
all this time bathsheba was conscious of having
broken into that dignified stronghold at last his
eyes she knew were
following her everywhere this
was a triumph and had it come naturally such a
triumph would have been the sweeter to her for this
piquing delay but it had been brought about by
misdirected ingenuity and she valued it only as she
valued an artificial flower or a wax fruit
being a woman with some good sense in reasoning
on subjects wherein her heart was not involved bath
sheba genuinely repented that a freak which had owed
its existence as much to liddy as to herself should
ever have been undertaken to disturb the placidity of
a man she respected too highly to deliberately tease
she that day nearly formed the intention of begging
his pardon on the very next occasion of their meeting
the worst features of this arrangement were that if
he thought she ridiculed him an apology would in
crease the offence by being disbelieved and if he
thought she wanted him to woo her it would read
like additional evidence of her forwardness
boldwood in meditation  regret
boldwood was tenant of what was called little
weatherbury farm and his person was the nearest ap
proach to aristocracy that this remoter quarter of the
parish could boast of genteel strangers whose god
was their town who might happen to be compelled to
linger about this nook for a day heard the sound of
light wheels and prayed to see good society to the
degree of a solitary lord or squire at the very least
but it was only mr boldwood going out for the day
they heard the sound of wheels yet once more and
were reanimated to expectancy  it was only mr bold
wood coming home again
his house stood recessed from the road and the
stables which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a
room were behind their lower portions being lost
amid bushes of laurel inside the blue door open
halfway down were to be seen at this time the backs
and tails of halfadozen warm and contented horses
standing in their stalls and as thus viewed they pre
sented alternations of roan and bay in shapes like a
moorish arch the tail being a streak down the midst
of each over these and lost to the eye gazing in
from the outer light the mouths of the same animals
could be heard busily sustaining the abovenamed
warmth and plumpness by quantities of oats and hay
the restless and shadowy figure of a colt wandered
about a loosebox at the end whilst the steady grind
of all the eaters was occasionally diversified by the
rattle of a rope or the stamp of a foot
pacing up and down at the heels of the animals was
farmer boldwood himself this place was his almonry
and cloister in one  here after looking to the feeding
of his fourfooted dependants the celibate would walk
and meditate of an evening till the moons rays streamed
in through the cobwebbed windows or total darkness
enveloped the scene
his squareframed perpendicularity showed more fully
now than in the crowd and bustle of the markethouse
in this meditative walk his foot met the floor with heel
and toe simultaneously and his fine reddishfleshed face
was bent downwards just enough to render obscure the
still mouth and the wellrounded though rather prominent
and broad chin a few clear and threadlike horizontal
lines were the only interruption to the otherwise smooth
surface of his large forehead
the phases of boldwoods life were ordinary enough
but his was not an ordinary nature that stillness
which struck casual observers more than anything else
in his character and habit and seemed so precisely
like the rest of inanition may have been the perfect
balance of enormous antagonistic forces  positives and
negatives in fine adjustment his equilibrium disturbed
he was in extremity at once if an emotion possessed
him at all it ruled him a feeling not mastering him
was entirely latent stagnant or rapid it was never
slow he was always hit mortally or he was missed
he had no light and careless touches in his constitu
tion either for good or for evil stern in the outlines of
action mild in the details he was serious throughout all
he saw no absurd sides to the follies of life and thus
though not quite companionable in the eyes of merry
men and scoffers and those to whom all things show
life as a jest he was not intolerable to the earnest and
those acquainted with grief being a man who read
all the dramas of life seriously if he failed to please
when they were comedies there was no frivolous treat
ment to reproach him for when they chanced to end
tragically
bathsheba was far from dreaming that the dark and
silent shape upon which she had so carelessly thrown a
seed was a hotbed of tropic intensity had she known
boldwoods moods her blame would have been fearful
and the stain upon her heart ineradicable moreover
had she known her present power for good or evil over
this man she would have trembled at her responsibility
luckily for her present unluckily for her future tran
quillity her understanding had not yet told her what
boldwood was nobody knew entirely  for though it
was possible to form guesses concerning his wild capa
bilities from old floodmarks faintly visible he had never
been seen at the high tides which caused them
farmer boldwood came to the stabledoor and looked
forth across the level fields beyond the first enclosure
was a hedge and on the other side of this a meadow
belonging to bathshebas farm
it was now early spring  the time of going to grass
with the sheep when they have the first feed of the
meadows before these are laid up for mowing the
wind which had been blowing east for several weeks
had veered to the southward and the middle of spring
had come abruptly  almost without a beginning it
was that period in the vernal quarter when we map
suppose the dryads to be waking for the season the
vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps
to rise till in the completest silence of lone gardens
and trackless plantations where everything seems help
less and still after the bond and slavery of frost there
are bustlings strainings united thrusts and pullsall
together in comparison with which the powerful tugs of
cranes and pulleys in a noisy city are but  pigmy efforts
boldwood looking into the distant meadows saw
there three figures they were those of miss everdene
shepherd oak and cainy ball
when bathshebas figure shone upon the farmers
eyes it lighted him up as the moon lights up a great
tower a mans body is as the shell or the tablet of
his soul as he is reserved or ingenuous overflowing or
selfcontained there was a  change in boldwoods
exterior from its former impassibleness  and his face
showed that he was now living outside his defences
for the first time and with a fearful sense of exposure
it is the usual experience of strong natures when they
love
at last he arrived at a conclusion it was to go
across and inquire boldly of her
the insulation of his heart by reserve during these
many years without a channel of any kind for disposable
emotion had worked its effect it has been observed
more than once that the causes of love are chiefly
subjective and boldwood was a living testimony to
the truth of the proposition no mother existed to
absorb his devotion no sister for his tenderness no
idle ties for sense he became surcharged with the
compound which was genuine lovers love
he approached the gate of the meadow beyond
it the ground was melodious with ripples and the sky
with larks the low bleating of the flock mingling with
both mistress and man were engaged in the operation
of making a lamb take which is performed whenever
an ewe has lost her own offspring one of the twins of
another ewe being given her as a substitute gabriel
had skinned the dead lamb and was tying the skin
over the body of the live lamb in the customary manner
whilst bathsheba was holding open a little pen of four
hurdles into which the mother and foisted lamb were
driven where they would remain till the old sheep
conceived an affection for the young one
bathsheba looked up at the completion of the
manouvre and saw the farmer by the gate where he
was overhung by a willow tree in full bloom gabriel
to whom her face was as the uncertain glory of an april
day was ever regardful of its faintest changes and
instantly discerned thereon the mark of some influence
from without in the form of a keenly selfconscious
reddening he also turned and beheld boldwood
at onee connecting these signs with the letter bold
wood had shown him gabriel suspected her of some
coquettish procedure begun by that means and carried
on since he knew not how
farmer boldwood had read the pantomime denoting
that they were aware of his presence and the perception
was as too much light turned upon his new sensibility
he was still in the road and by moving on he hoped
that neither would recognize that he had originally
intended to enter the field he passed by with an
utter and overwhelming sensation of ignorance shyness
and doubt perhaps in her manner there were signs
that she wished to see him  perhaps not  he could not
read a woman the cabala of this erotic philosophy
seemed to consist of the subtlest meanings expressed in
misleading ways
every turn look word and accent
contained a mystery quite distinct from its obvious
import and not one had ever been pondered by him
until now
as for bathsheba she was not deceived into the
belief that farmer boldwood had walked by on business
or in idleness she collected the probabilities of the
case and concluded that she was herself responsible for
boldwoods appearance there it troubled her much
to see what a great flame a little wildfire was likely to
kindle bathsheba was no schemer for marriage nor
was she deliberately a trifler with the affections of men
and a censors experience on seeing an actual flirt after
observing her would have been a feeling of surprise
that bathsheba could be so different from such a one
and yet so like what a flirt is supposed to be
she resolved never again by look or by sign to
interrupt the steady flow of this mans life but a
resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil
is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible
the sheepwashing  the offer
boldwood did eventually call upon her she was
not at home  of course not he murmured in con
templating bathsheba as a woman he had forgotten the
accidents of her position as an agriculturist  that being
as much of a farmer and as extensive a farmer as
himself her probable whereabouts was outofdoots at
this time of the year this and the other oversights
boldwood was guilty of were natural to the mood and
still more natural to the circumstances the great aids
to idealization in love were present here  occasional
observation of her from a distance and the absence of
social intercourse with her  visual familiarity oral
strangeness the smaller human elements were kept
out of sight  the pettinesses that enter so largely into
all earthly living and doing were disguised by the
accident of lover and lovedone not being on visiting
terms  and there was hardly awakened a thought in
boldwood that sorry household realities appertained to
her or that she like all others had moments of
commonplace when to be least plainly seen was to be
most prettily remembered thus a mild sort of
apotheosis took place in his fancy whilst she still lived
and breathed within his own horizon a troubled creature
like himself
it was the end of may when the farmer determined
to be no longer repulsed by trivialities or distracted by
suspense he had by this time grown used to being in
love the passion now startled him less even when it
tortured him more and he felt himself adequate to the
situation on inquiring for her at her house they had
told him she was at the sheepwashing and he went off
to seek her there
the sheepwashing pool was a perfectly circular basin
of brickwork in the meadows full of the clearest water
to birds on the wing its glassy surface reflecting the
light sky must have been
visible for miles around as a
glistening cyclops eye in a green face the grass
about the margin at this season was a sight to remember
long  in a minor sort of way its activity in sucking
the moisture from the rich damp sod was almost a pro
cess observable by the eye the outskirts of this level
watermeadow were diversified by rounded and hollow
pastures where just now every flower that was not a
buttercup was a daisy the river slid along noiselessly
as a shade the swelling reeds and sedge forming a
flexible palisade upon its moist brink to the north
of the mead were trees the leaves of which were new
soft and moist not yet having stiffened and darkened
under summer sun and drought their colour being
yellow beside a green  green beside a yellow
from the recesses of this knot of foliage the loud
notes of three cuckoos were resounding through the
still air
boldwood went meditating down the slopes with his
eyes on his boots which the yellow pollen from the
buttercups had bronzed in artistic gradations a tribu
tary of the main stream flowed through the basin of the
pool by an inlet and outlet at opposite points of its
diameter shepherd oak jan coggan moon poor
grass cain ball and several others were assembled
here all dripping wet to the very roots of their hair
and bathsheba was standing by in a new ridinghabit 
the most elegant she had ever worn  the reins of her
horse being looped over her arm flagons of cider
were rolling about upon the green the meek sheep
were pushed into the pool by coggan and matthew
moon who stood by the lower hatch immersed to their
waists then gabriel who stood on the brink thrust
them under as they swam along with an instrument
like a crutch formed for the purpose and also for
assisting the exhausted animals when the wool became
saturated and they began to sink they were let out
against the stream and through the upper opening all
impurities flowing away below cainy ball and joseph
who performed this latter operation were if possible
wetter than the rest  they resembled dolphins under a
fountain every protuberance and angle of their clothes
dribbling forth a small rill
boldwood came close and bade her goodmorning with
such constraint that she could not but think he had
stepped across to the washing for its own sake hoping
not to find her there  more she fancied his brow severe
and his eye slighting bathsheba immediately contrived
to withdraw and glided along by the river till she was
a stones throw off she heard footsteps brushing the
grass and had a consciousness that love was encircling
her like a perfume instead of turning or waiting
bathsheba went further among the high sedges but
boldwood seemed determined and pressed on till they
were completely past the bend of the river here
without being seen they could hear the splashing and
shouts of the washers above
miss everdene said the farmer
she trembled turned and said good morning
his tone was so utterly removed from all she had
expected as a beginning it was lowness and quiet
accentuated  an emphasis of deep meanings their form
at the same time being scarcely expressed silence
has sometimes a remarkable power of showing itself as
the disembodied soul of feeling wandering without its
carcase and it is then more impressive than speech
in the same way to say a little is often to tell more
than to say a great deal boldwood told everything in
that word
as the conseiousness expands on learning that what
was fancied to be the rumble of wheels is the reverbera
tion of thunder so did bathshebas at her intuitive
conviction
i feel  almost too much  to think he said with a
solemn simplicity i have come to speak to you with
out preface my life is not my own since i have beheld
you clearly miss everdene  i come to make you an
offer of marriage
bathsheba tried to preserve an absolutely neutral
countenance and all the motion she made was that of
closing lips which had previously been a little parted
i am now fortyone years old he went on i may
have been called a confirmed bachelor and i was a
confirmed bachelor i had never any views of myself
as a husband in my earlier days nor have i made any
calculation on the subject since i have been older
but we all change and my change in this matter
came
with seeing you i have felt lately more and more
that my present way of living is bad in every respect
beyond all things i want you as my wife
i feel mr boldwood that though i respect you
much i do not feel  what would justify me to  in
accepting your offer she stammered
this giving back of dignity for dignity seemed to
open the sluices of feeling that boldwood had as yet
kept closed
 my life is a burden without you he exclaimed in
a low voice i want you  i want you to let me say
i love you again and again
bathsheba answered nothing and the mare upon
her arm seemed so impressed that instead of cropping
the herbage she looked up
i think and hope you care enough for me to listen
to what i have to tell
   bathshebas momentary impulse at hearing this was
to ask why he thought that till she remembered that
far from being a conceited assumption on boldwoods
part it was but the natural conclusion of serious reflec
tion based on deceptive premises of her own offering
i wish i could say courteous flatteries to you the
farmer continued in an easier tone  and put my rugged
feeling into a graceful shape but i have neither power
nor patience to learn such things i want you for my
wife  so wildly that no other feeling can abide in me
but i should not have spoken out had i not been led
to hope
the valentine again o that valentine she
said to herself but not a word to him
  if you can love me say so miss everdene if not
  dont say no
  mr boldwood it is painful to have to say i am
surprised so that i dont know how to answer you with
propriety and respect  but am only just able to speak
out my feeling  i mean my meaning that i am afraid
i cant marry you much as i respect you you are too
dignified for me to suit you sir
  but miss everdene
i  i didnt  i know i ought never to have dreamt
of sending
that valentine  forgive me sir  it was a
wanton thing which no woman with any selfrespect
should have done if you will only pardon my thought
lessness i promise never to    
 no no no dont say thoughtlessness make me
think it was something more  that it was a sort of
prophetic instinct  the beginning of a feeling that you
would like me you torture me to say it was done in
thoughtlessness  i never thought of it in that light and
i cant endure it ah  i wish i knew how to win you
but that i cant do  i can only ask if i have already got
you if i have not and it is not true that you have
come unwittingly to me as i have to you i can say no
more
  i have not fallen in love with you mr boldwood 
certainly i must say that she allowed a very small
smile to creep for the first time over her serious face in
saying this and the white row of upper teeth and keenly
cut lips already noticed suggested an idea of heartless
ness which was immediately contradicted by the pleasant
eyes
but you will just think  in kindness and conde
scension think  if you cannot bear with me as a husband
i fear i am too old for you but believe me i will take
more care of you than would many a man of your own
age i will protect and cherish you with all my strength
  i will indeed you shall have no cares  be worried
by no household affairs and live quite at ease miss
everdene the dairy superintendence shall be done by
a man  i can afford it will  you shall never have so
much as to look out of doors at haymaking time or to
think of weather in the harvest i rather cling to the
chaise because it is he same my poor father and mother
drove but if you dont like it i will sell it and you shall
have a ponycarriage of your own i cannot say how
far above every other idea and object on earth you seem
to me  nobody knows  god only knows  how much
you are to me
bathshebas heart was young and it swelled with
sympathy for the deepnatured man who spoke so
simply
  dont say it dont i cannot bear you to feel so
much and me to feel nothing and i am afraid they
will notice us mr boldwood will you let the matter
rest now i cannot think
collectedly i did not know
you were going to say this to me  i am wicked to
have made you suffer so she was frightened as well
as agitated at his vehemence
  say then that you dont absolutely refuse do not
quite refuse
i can do nothing i cannot answer
i may speak to you again on the subject
yes
i may think of you
yes i suppose you may think of me
and hope to obtain you
no  do not hope let us go on
i will call upon you again tomorrow
no  please not give me time
yes  i will give you any time he said earnestly and
gratefully i am happier now
no  i beg you dont be happier if happiness
only comes from my agreeing be neutral mr bold
wood i must think
i will wait he said
and then she turned away boldwood dropped his
gaze to the ground and stood long like a man who did not
know where he was realities then returned upon him
like the pain of a wound received in an excitement
which eclipses it and he too then went on
perplexity  grinding the shears  a quarrel
he is so disinterested and kind to offer me all that i
can desire bathsheba mused
yet farmer boldwood whether by nature kind or
the reverse to kind did not exercise kindness here
the rarest offerings of the purest loves are but a self
indulgence and no generosity at all
bathsheba not being the least in love with him was
eventually able to look calmly at his offer it was one
which many women of her own station in the neighbour
hood and not a few of higher rank would have been
wild to accept and proud to publish in every point of
view ranging from politic to passionate it was desirable
that she a lonely girl should marry and marry this
earnest welltodo and respected man he was close
to her doors his standing was sufficient his qualities
were even supererogatory had she felt which she did
not any wish whatever for the married state in the
abstract she could not reasonably have rejected him
being a woman who frequently appealed to her under
standing for deliverance from her whims boldwood as
a means to marriage was unexceptionable she esteemed
and liked him yet she did not want him it appears
that ordinary men take wives because possession is not
possible without marriage and that ordinary women
accept husbands because marriage is not possible with
out possession with totally differing aims the method is
the same on both sides but the understood incentive
on the womans part was wanting here besides bath
shebas position as absolute mistress of a farm and house
was a novel one and the novelty had not yet begun to
wear off
but a disquiet filled her which was somewhat to her
credit for it would have affected few beyond the men
tioned reasons with which she combated her objections
she had a strong
feeling that having been the one who
began the game she ought in honesty to accept the conse
quences still the reluctance remained she said in the
same breath that it would be ungenerous not to marry
boldwood and that she couldnt do it to save her life
bathshebas was an impulsive nature under a delibera
tive aspect  an elizabeth in brain and a mary stuart
in spirit she often performed actions of the greatest
temerity with a manner of extreme discretion many of
her thoughts were perfect syllogisms unluckily they
always remained thoughts only a few were irrational
assumptions but unfortunately they were the ones
which most frequently grew into deeds
  the next day to that of the declaration she found
gabriel oak at the bottom of her garden grinding his
shears for the sheepshearing all the surrounding
cottages were more or less scenes of the same operation
the scurr of whetting spread into the sky from all parts
of the village as from an armury previous to a campaign
peace and war kiss each other at their hours of prepara
tion  sickles scythes shears and pruninghooks ranking
with swords bayonets and lances in their common
necessity for point and edge
cainy ball turned the handle of gabriels grinstone
his head performing a melancoly seesaw up and down
with each turn of the wheel oak stood somewhat as
eros is represented when in the act of sharpening his
arrows his figure slightly bent the weight of his body
thrown over on the shears and his head balanced side
ways with a critical compression of the lips and contrac
tion of the eyelids to crown the attitude
his mistress came up and looked upon them in
silence for a minute or two then she said 
cain go to the lower mead and catch the bay mare
ill turn the winch of the grindstone i want to speak
to you gabriel
cain departed and bathsheba took the handle
gabriel had glanced up in intense surprise quelled its
expression and looked down again bathsheba turned
the winch and gabriel applied the shears
the peculiar motion involved in turning a wheel
has a wonderful tendency to benumb the mind it
is a sort of
attenuated variety of ixions punishment
and contributes a dismal chapter to the history of
heavy and the bodys centre of gravity seems to
settle by degrees in a leaden lump somewhere be
tween the eyebrows and the crown bathsheba felt
the unpleasant symptoms after two or three dozen
turns
  will you turn gabriel and let me hold the shears
she said my head is in awhirl and i cant talk
gabriel turned bathsheba then began with some
awkwardness allowing her thoughts to stray occasion
ally from her story to attend to the shears which
required a little nicety in sharpening
  i wanted to ask you if the men made any observa
tions on my going behind the sedge with mr boldwood
yesterday
  yes they did said gabriel you dont hold
the shears right miss  i knew you wouldnt know the
way  hold like this
he relinquished the winch and inclosing her two
hands completely i his own taking each as we some
times slasp a childs hand in teaching him to write
grasped the shears with her incline the edge so
he said
  hands and shears were inclined to suit the words
and held thus for a peculiarly long time by the in
structor as he spoke
  that will do exclaimed bathsheba loose my
hands i wont have them held turn the winch
gabriel freed her hands quietly retired to his
handle and the grinding went on
  did the men think it odd she said again
odd was not the idea miss
what did they say
that farmer boldwoods name and your own
were likely to be flung over pulpit together before the
year was out
i thought so by the look of them why theres
nothing in it a more foolish remark was never made
and i want you to contradict it thats what i came for
  gabriel looked incredulous and sad but between
his moments of incredulity relieved
they must have heard our conversation she
continued
well then bathsheba said oak stopping the
handle and gazing into her face with astonishment
  miss everdene you mean she said with dignity
  i mean this that if mr boldwood really spoke of
marriage i baint going to tell a story and say he
didnt to please you i have already tried to please
you too much for my own good
hathsheba regarded him with roundeyed perplexity
she did not know whether to pity him for disappointed
love of her or to be angry with him for having got
over it  his tone being ambiguous
  i said i wanted you just to mention that it was
not true i was going to be married to him she mur
mured with a slight decline in her assurance
i can say that to them if you wish miss everdene
and i could likewise give an opinion to ee on what
you have done
i daresay but i dont want your opinion
i suppose not said gabriel bitterly and going on
with his turning his words rising and falling in a
regular swell and cadence as he stooped or rose with
the winch which directed them according to his
position perpendiculary into the earth or horizontally
along the garden his eyes being fixed on a leaf upon
the ground
  with bathsheba a hastened act was a rash act
but as does not always happen time gained was
prudence insured it must be added however that
time was very seldom gained at this period the
single opinion in the parish on herself and her doings
that she valued as sounder than her own was gabriel
oaks and the outspoken honesty of his character
was such that on any subject even that of her love
for or marriage with another man the same disinter
estedness of opinion might be calculated on and be
had for the asking thoroughly convinced of the
impossibility of his own suit a high resolve constrained
him not to injure that of another this is a lovers
most stoical virtue as the lack of it is a lovers most
venial sin hnowing he would reply truly she asked
the question painful as she must have known the sub
ject would be such is the selfishness of some charm
ing women perhaps it was some excuse for her thus
torturing honesty to her own advantage that she had
absolutely no other sound judgment within easy reach
well what is your opinion of my conduct she
said quietly
that it is unworthy of any thoughtful and meek
and comely woman
in an instant bathshebas face coloured with the
angry crimson of a danby sunset but she forbore
to utter this feeling and the reticence of her tongue
only made the loquacity of her face the more notice
able
the next thing gabriel did was to make a mistake
perhaps you dont like the rudeness of my repri
manding you for i know it is rudeness but i thought
it would do good
she instantly replied sarcastically 
on the contrary my opinion of you is so low that
i see in your abuse the praise of discerning people
i am glad you dont mind it for i said it honestly
and with every serious meaning
  i see but unfortunately when you try not to
speak in jest you are amusing  just as when you wish
to avoid seriousness you sometimes say a sensible word
it was a hard hit but bathsheba had unmistakably
lost her temper and on that account gabriel had
never in his life kept his own better he said nothing
she then broke out 
  i may ask i suppose where in particular my
unworthiness lies in my not marrying you perhaps
not by any means said gabriel quietly i have
long given up thinking of that matter
or wishing it i suppose she said and it was
apparent that she expected an unhesitating denial of
this supposition
whatever gabriel felt he coolly echoed her words 
or wishing it either
  a woman may be treated with a bitterness which
is sweet to her and with a rudeness which is not
offensive bathsheba would have submitted to an
indignant chastisement for her levity had gabriel pro
tested that he was loving her at the same time the
impetuosity of passion unrequited is bearable even if
it stings and anathematizes there is a triumph in the
humiliation and a tenderness in the strife this was
what she had been expecting and what she had not
got to be lectured
because the lecturer saw her in
the cold morning light of openshuttered disillusion
was exasperating he had not finished either he
continued in a more agitated voice 
my opinion is since you ask it that you are
greatly to blame for playing pranks upon a man like
mr boldwood merely as a pastime leading on a
man you dont care for is not a praiseworthy action
and even miss everdene if you seriously inclined
towards him you might have let him find it out in
some way of true lovingkindness and not by sending
him a valentines letter
bathsheba laid down the shears
 i cannot allow any man to  to criticise my private
conduct she exclaimed nor will i for a minute
so youll please leave the farm at the end of the week
it may have been a peculiarity  at any rate it was
a fact  that when bathsheba was swayed by an emotion
of an earthly sort her lower lip trembled when by a
refined emotion her upper or heavenward one her
nether lip quivered now
very well so i will said gabriel calmly he had
been held to her by a beautiful thread which it pained
him to spoil by breaking rather than by a chain he
could not break i should be even better pleased to
go at once he added
go at once then in heavens name said sheher
eyes flashing at his though never meeting them
dont let me see your face any more
very well miss everdene  so it shall be
and he took his shears and went away from her in
placid dignity as moses left the presence of pharaoh
troubles in the fold  a message
gabriel oak had ceased to feed the weatherbury
flock for about fourandtwenty hours when on sunday
afternoon the elderly gentlemen joseph poorgrass
matthew moon fray and halfadozen others came
running up to the house of the mistress of the upper
farm
 whatever is the matter men she said meeting
them at the door just as she was coming out on her
way to church and ceasing in a moment from the close
compression of her two red lips with which she had
accompanied the exertion of pelling on a tight glove
sixty said joseph poorgrass
seventy said moon
fiftynine said susan talls husband
  sheep have broke fence said fray
  and got into a field of young clover said tall
  young clover said moon
  clover said joseph poorgrass
and they be getting blasted said henery fray
that they be said joseph
and will all die as dead as nits if they baint got
out and curedsaid tall
josephs countenance was drawn into lines and
puckers by his concern frays forehead was wrinkled
both perpendicularly and crosswise after the pattern of
a portcullis expressive of a double despair laban
talls lips were thin and his face were rigid matthews
jaws sank and his eyes turned whichever way the
strongest muscle happened to pull them
  yes said joseph and i was sitting at home
looking for ephesians and says i to myself tis
nothing but corinthians and thessalonians in this
danged testament when
who should come in but
henery there joseph he said the sheep have
with bathsheba it was a moment when thought was
blasted theirselves  
  with bathsheba it was a moment when thought was
speech and speech exclamation moreover she had
hardly recovered her equanimity since the disturbance
which she had suffered from oaks remarks
thats enought  thats enough  oh you fools
she cried throwing the parasol and prayerbook into
the passage and running out of doors in the direction
signified to come to me and not go and get them
out directly oh the stupid numskulls
her eyes were at their darkest and brightest now
bathshebas beauty belonged rather to the demonian
than to the angelic school she never looked so well as
when she was angry  and particularly when the effect
was heightened by a rather dashing velvet dress care
fully put on before a glass
all the ancient men ran in a jumbled throng after
her to the cloverfield joseph sinking down in the
midst when about halfway like an individual withering
in a world which was more and more insupportable
having once received the stimulus that her presence
always gave them they went round among the sheep
with a will the majority of the afflicted animals were
lying down and could not be stirred these were
bodily lifted out and the others driven into the adjoining
field here after the lapse of a few minutes several
more fell down and lay helpless and livid as the rest
bathsheba with a sad bursting heart looked at these
primest specimens of her prime flock as they rolled
there 
swoln with wind and the rank mist they drew
many of them foamed at the mouth their breathing
being quick and short whilst the bodies of all were
fearfully distended
o what can i do what can i do said bathsheba
helplessly sheep are such unfortunate animals 
theres always something happening to them i never
knew a flock pass a year without getting into some scrape
or other
theres only one way of saving them said tall
what way tell me quick
they must be pierced in the side with a thing made
on purpose
can you do it can i
no maam we cant nor you neither it must
be done in a particular spot if ye go to the right or
left but an inch you stab the ewe and kill her not
even a shepherd can do it as a rule
then they must die she said in a resigned tone
only one man in the neighbourhood knows the way
said joseph now just come up he could cure em
all if he were here
who is he lets get him
shepherd oak said matthew ah hes a clever
man in talents
ah that he is so said joseph poorgrass
true  hes the man said laban tall
how dare you name that man in my presence she
said excitedly i told you never to allude to him nor
shall you if you stay with me ah she added brighten
ing farmer boldwood knows
   no maam said matthew two of his store
ewes got into some vetches tother day and were just
like these he sent a man on horseback here posthaste
for gable and gable went and saved em farmer
boldwood hev got the thing they do it with tis a
holler pipe with a sharp pricker inside isnt it
joseph
  ay  a holler pipe echoed joseph thats what
tis
ay sure  thats the machine chimed in henery
fray reflectively with an oriental indifference to the
flight of time
well burst out bathsheba dont stand there with
your ayes and your sures talking at me get
somebody to cure the sheep instantly
  all then stalked or in eonsternation to get some
body as directed without any idea of who it was to be
in a minute they had vanished through the gateand
she stood alone with the dying flock
never will i send for him never she said firmly
one of the ewes here contracted its muscles horribly
extended itself and jumped high into the air the
leap was an astonishing one the ewe fell heavily and
lay still
bathsheba went up to it the sheep was dead
o what shall i do  what shall i do she again
exclaimed wringing her hands i wont send for him
no i wont
the most vigorous expression of a resolution does
not always coinicide with the greatest vigour of the
resolution itself it is often flung out as a sort of prop
to support a decaying conviction which whilst strong
required no enunciation to prove it so the no i
wont of bathsheba meant virtually i think i must
she followed her assistants through the gate and
lifted her hand to one of them laban answered to her
signal
where is oak staying
across the valley at nest cottage
jump on the bay mare and ride across and say he
must return instantly  that i say so
tall scrambled off to the field and in two minutes
was on poll the bay barebacked and with only a
halter by way of rein he diminished down the
hill
bathsheba watched so did all the rest tall
cantered along the bridlepath through sixteen acres
sheeplands middle field the flats cappels piece
shrank almost to a point crossed the bridge and
ascended from the valley through springmead and
whitepits on the other side the cottage to which
gabriel had retired before taking his final departure
from the locality was visible as a white spot on the
opposite hill backed by blue firs bathsheba walked
up and down the men entered the field and
endeavoured to ease the anguish of the dumb creatures
by rubbing them nothing availed
bathsheba continued walking the horse was seen
descending the hill and the wearisome series had to be
repeated in reverse order whitepits springmead
cappels piece the flats middle field sheeplands
sixteen acres she hoped tall had had presence of
mind enough to give the mare up to gabriel and return
himself on foot the rider neared them it was tall
o what folly said bathsheba
gabriel was not visible anywhere
perhaps he is already gone she said
tall came into the inclosure and leapt off his face
tragic as mortons after the battle of shrewsbury
well said bathsheba unwilling to believe that
her verbal lettredecachet could possibly have miscarried
he says beggars mustnt be choosers replied laban
what said the young farmer opening her eyes
and drawing in her breath for an outburst joseph
poorgrass retired a few steps behind a hurdle
he says he shall not come onless you request en
to come civilly and in a proper manner as becomes any
ooman begging a favour
oh oh thats his answer where does he get his
airs who am i then to be treated like that shall
i beg to a man who has begged to me
another of the flock sprang into the air and fell
dead
the men looked grave as if they suppressed opinion
bathsheba turned aside her eyes full of tears the
strait she was in through pride and shrewishness could
not be disguised longer she burst out crying bitterly
they all saw it and she attempted no further concealment
i wouldnt cry about it miss said william small
bury compassionately why not ask him softer like
im sure hed come then gable is a true man in that
way
bathsheba checked her grief and wiped her eyes
o it is a wicked cruelty to me  it is  it is she
murmured and he drives me to do what i wouldnt
yes he does   tall come indoors
after this collapse not very dignified for the head
of an establishment she went into the house tall at
her heels here she sat down and hastily scribbled a
note between the small convulsive sobs of convalescence
which follow a fit of crying as a groundswell follows a
storm the note was none the less polite for being
written in a hurry she held it at a distance was
about to fold it then added these words at the
bottom 
do not desert me gabriel
she looked a little redder in refolding it and closed
her lips as if thereby to suspend till too late the action
of conscience in examining whether such strategy were
justifiable the note was despatched as the message
had been and bathsheba waited indoors for the result
it was an anxious quarter of an hour that intervened
between the messengers departure and the sound of the
horses tramp again outside she could not watch this
time but leaning over the old bureau at which she had
written the letter closed her eyes as if to keep out both
hope and fear
  the case however was a promising one gabriel
was not angry he was simply neutral although her first
command had been so haughty such imperiousness
would have damned a little less beauty and on the
other hand such beauty would have redeemed a little
less imperiousness
she went out when the horse was heard and looked
up a mounted figure passed between her and the
sky and drew on towards the fleld of sheep the rider
turning his face in receding gabriel looked at her
it was a moment when a womans eyes and tongue tell
distinctly opposite tales bathsheba looked full of
gratitude and she said 
  o gabriel how could you serve me so unkindly
such a tenderlyshaped reproach for his previous
delay was the one speech in the language that he could
pardon for not being commendation of his readiness
now
gabriel murmured a confused reply and hastened
on she knew from the look which sentence in her
note had brought him bathsheba followed to the
field
gabriel was already among the turgid prostrate forms
he had flung off his coat rolled up his shirtsleeves
and taken from his pocket the instrument of salvation
it was a small tube or trochar with a lance passing
down the inside and gabriel began to use it with a
dexterity that would have graced a hospital surgeon
passing his hand over the sheeps left flank and
selecting the proper point he punctured the skin and
rumen with the lance as it stood in the tube then he
suddenly withdrew the lance retaining the tube in its
place a current of air rushed up the tube forcible
enough to have extinguished a candle held at the
orifice
it has been said that mere ease after torment is de
light for a time and the countenances of these poor
creatures expressed it now fortynine operations were
successfully performed owing to the great hurry
necessitated by the fargone state of some of the flock
gabriel missed his aim in one case and in one only 
striking wide of the mark and inflicting a mortal blow
at once upon the suffering ewe four had died three
recovered without an operation the total number of
sheep which had thus strayed and injured themselves
so dangerously was fiftyseven
when the loveled man had ceased from his labours
bathsheba came and looked him in the face
gabriel will you stay on with me she said
smiling winningly and not troubling to bring her lips
quite together again at the end because there was going
to be another smile soon
i will said gabriel
and she smiled on him again
the great barn and the sheepshearers
men thin away to insignificance and oblivion quite as
often by not making the most of good spirits when they
have them as by lacking good spirits when they are
indispensable gabriel lately for the first time since
his prostration by misfortune had been independent in
thought and vigorous in action to a marked extent 
conditions which powerless without an opportunity as
an opportunity without them is barren would have
given him a sure lift upwards when the favourablecon
junction should have occurred but this incurable
loitering beside bathsheba everdene stole his time
ruinously the spring tides were going by without
floating him off and the neap might soon come which
could not
it was the first day of june and the sheepshearing
season culminated the landscape even to the leanest
pasture being all health and colour every green was
young every pore was open and every stalk was swollen
with racing currents of juice god was palpably present
in the country and the devil had gone with the world
to town flossy catkins of the later kinds fernsprouts
like bishops croziers the squareheaded moschatel the
odd cuckoopint  like an apoplectic saint in a niche
of malachite  snowwhite ladiessmocks the toothwort
approximating to human flesh the enchanters night
shade and the blackpetaled dolefulbells were among
the quainter objects of the vegetable world in and about
weatherbury at this teeming time and of the animal
the metamorphosed figures of mr jan coggan the
mastershearer the second and third shearers who
travelled in the exercise of their calling and do not re
quire definition by name henery fray the fourth
shearer susan talls husband the fifth joseph poorgrass
the sixth young cain ball as assistantshearer and
gabriel oak as general supervisor none of these were
clothed
to any extent worth mentioning each appearing
to have hit in the matter of raiment the decent mean
between a high and low caste hindoo an angularity
of lineament and a fixity of facial machinery in general
proclaimed that serious work was the order of the day
they sheared in the great barn called for the nonce
the shearingbarn which on groundplan resembled a
church with transepts it not only emulated the form
of the neighbouring church of the parish but vied with
it in antiquity whether the barn had ever formed one
of a group of conventual buildings nobody seemed to be
aware no trace of such surroundings remained the
vast porches at the sides lofty enough to admit a waggon
laden to its highest with corn in the sheaf were spanned
by heavypointed arches of stone broadly and boldly cut
whose very simplicity was the origin of a grandeur not
apparent in erections where more ornament has been
attempted the dusky filmed chestnut roof braced
and tied in by huge collars curves and diagonals was
far nobler in design because more wealthy in material
than ninetenths of those in our modern churches
along each side wall was a range of striding buttresses
throwing deep shadows on the spaces between them
which were perforated by lancet openings combining
in their proportions the precise requirements both of
beauty and ventilation
one could say about this barn what could hardly
be said of either the church or the castle akin to it in
age and style that the purpose which had dictated its
original erection was the same with that to which it
was still applied unlike and superior to either of
those two typical remnants of mediaevalism the old
barn embodied practices which had suffered no mutila
tion at the hands of time here at least the spirit of
the ancient builders was at one with the spirit of the
modern beholder standing before this abraded pile
the eye regarded its present usage the minddwelt upon
its past history with a satisfied sense of functional
continuity throughout  a feeling almost of gratitude
and quite of pride at the permanence of the idea
which had heaped it up the fact that four centuries
had neither proved it to be founded on a mistake
inspired any hatred of its purpose nor given rise to
any reaction that had battered it down invested this
simple grey effort of old minds with a repose if not a
grandeur which a too curious reflection was apt to
disturb in its ecclesiastical and military compeers for
once medievalism and modernism had a common stand
point the lanccolate windows the timeeaten arch
stones and chamfers the orientation of the axis the
misty chestnut work of the rafters referred to no exploded
fortifying art or wornout religious creed the defence
and salvation of the body by daily bread is still a study
a religion and a desire
today the large side doors were thrown open
towards the sun to admit a bountiful light to the
immediate spot of the shearers operations which was
the wood threshingfloor in the centre formed of thick
oak black with age and polished by the beating of flails
for many generations till it had grown as slippery and
as rich in hue as the stateroom floors of an elizabethan
mansion here the shearers knelt the sun slanting in
upon their bleached shirts tanned arms and the polished
shears they flourished causing these to bristle with a
thousand rays strong enough to blind a weakeyed man
beneath them a captive sheep lay panting quickening
its pants as misgiving merged in terror till it quivered
like the hot landscape outside
this picture of today in its frame of four hundred
years ago did not produce that marked contrast between
ancient and modern which is implied by the contrast
of date in comparison with cities weatherbury was
immutable the citizens then is the rustics now
in london twenty or thirtyyears ago are old times
in paris ten years or five in weatherbury three or
four score years were included in the mere present
and nothing less than a century set a mark on its
face or tone five decades hardly modified the cut of
a gaiter the embroidery of a smockfrock by the breadth
of a hair ten generations failed to alter the turn of
a single phrase in these wessex nooks the busy out
siders ancient times are only old his old times are still
new his present is futurity
so the barn was natural to the shearers and the
shearers were in harmony with the barn
the spacious ends of the building answering ecclesi
astically
to nave and chancel extremities were fenced
off with hurdles the sheep being all collected in a crowd
within these two enclosures and in one angle a catching
pen was formed in which three or four sheep were
continuously kept ready for the shearers to seize without
loss of time in the background mellowed by tawny
shade were the three women maryann money and
temperance and soberness miller gathering up the
fleeces and twisting ropes of wool with a wimble for
tying them round they were indifferently well assisted
by the old maltster who when the malting season from
october to april had passed made himself useful upon
any of the bordering farmsteads
behind all was bathsheba carefully watching the
men to see that there was no cutting or wounding
through carelessness and that the animals were shorn
close gabriel who flitted and hovered under her
bright eyes like a moth did not shear continuously
half his time being spent in attending to the others
and selecting the sheep for them at the present
moment he was engaged in handing round a mug of
mild liquor supplied from a barrel in the corner
and cut pieces of bread and cheese
bathsheba after throwing a glance here a caution
there and lecturing one of the younger operators who
had allowed his last finished sheep to go off among
the flock without restamping it with her initials came
again to gabriel as he put down the luncheon to drag
a frightened ewe to his shearstation flinging it over
upon its back with a dexterous twist of the arm
he lopped off the tresses about its head and opened
up the neck and collar his mistress quietly looking
on
she blushes at the insult murmured bathsheba
watching the pink flush which arose and overspread
the neck and shoulders of the ewe where they were
left bare by the clicking shears  a flush which was
enviable for its delicacy by many queens of coteries
and would have been creditable for its promptness to
any woman in the world
poor gabriels soul was fed with a luxury of content
by having her over him her eyes critically regarding
his skilful shears which apparently were going to gather
up a piece of the flesh at every close and yet never did
so like guildenstern
oak was happy in that he was
not over happy he had no wish to converse with her
that his bright lady and himself formed one group
exclusively their own and containing no others in the
world was enough
so the chatter was all on her side there is a
loquacity that tells nothing which was bathshebas
and there is a silence which says much that was
gabriels full of this dim and temperate bliss he
went on to fling the ewe over upon her other side
covering her head with his knee gradually running
the shears line after line round her dewlap thence
about her flank and back and finishing over the tail
well done and done quickly said bathsheba
looking at her watch as the last snip resounded
how long miss said gabriel wiping his brow
threeandtwenty minutes and a half since you took
the first lock from its forehead it is the first time that
i have ever seen one done in less than half an hour
the clean sleek creature arose from its fleece  how
perfectly like aphrodite rising from the foam should
have been seen to be realized  looking startled and
shy at the loss of its garment which lay on the floor
in one soft cloud united throughout the portion visible
being the inner surface only which never before exposed
was white as snow and without flaw or blemish of the
minutest kind
cain ball
yes mister oak here i be
cainy now runs forward with the tarpot b e is
newly stamped upon the shorn skin and away the simplc
dam lcaps panting over the board into the shirtless
flock outside then up comes maryann throws the
loose locks into the middle of the fleece rolls it up
and carries it into the background as threeandahalf
pounds of unadulterated warmth for the winter enjoy
ment of persons unknown and far away who will
however never experience the superlative comfort
derivable from the wool as it here exists new and pure
  before the unctuousness of its nature whilst in a
living state has dried stiffened and been washed out
  rendering it just now as superior to anything woollen
as cream is superior to milkandwater
but heartless circumstance could not leave entire
gabriels happiness of this morning the rams old
ewes and twoshear ewes had duly undergone their
stripping and the men were proceeding with the shear
lings and hogs when oaks belief that she was going to
stand pleasantly by and time him through another
performance was painfully interrupted by farmer bold
woods appearance in the extremest corner of the barn
nobody seemed to have perceived his entry but there
he certainly was boldwood always carried with him a
social atmosphere of his own which everybody felt who
came near him and the talk which bathshebas
presence had somewhat suppressed was now totally
suspended
  he crossed over rowards bathsheba who turned to
greet him with a carriage of perfect ease he spoke to
her in low tones and she instinctively modulated her
own to the same pitch and her voice ultimately even
caught the inflection of his she was far from having
a wish to appear mysteriously connected with him but
woman at the impressionable age gravitates to the larger
body not only in her choice of words which is apparent
every day but even in her shades of tone and humour
when the influence is great
  what they conversed about was not audible to
gabriel who was too independent to get near though
too concerned to disregard the issue of their dialogue
was the taking of her hand by the courteous farmer to
help her over the spreadingboard into the bright june
sunlight outside standing beside the sheep already
shorn they went on talking again concerning the
flock apparently not gabriel theorized not without
truth that in quiet discussion of any matter within reach
of the speakers eyes these are usually fixed upon it
bathsheba demurely regarded a contemptible straw lying
upon the ground in a way which suggested less ovine
criticism than womanly embarrassment she became
more or less red in the cheek the blood wavering in
uncertain flux and reflux over the sensitive space between
ebb and flood gabriel sheared on constrained and
sad
she left boldwoods side and he walked up and
down alone for nearly a quarter of an hour then she
reappeared in her
new ridinghabit of myrtlegreen which
fitted her to the waist as a rind fits its fruit and young
bob coggan led on her mare boldwood fetching his
own horse from the tree under which it had been tied
  oaks eyes could not forsake them and in en
deavouring to continue his shearing at the same time
that he watched boldwoods manner he snipped the
sheep in the groin the animal plunged bathsheba
instantly gazed towards it and saw the blood
o gabriel she exclaimed with severe remon
strance you who are so strict with the other men  see
what you are doing yourself
to an outsider there was not much to complain of
in this remark  but to oak who knew bathsheba to be
well aware that she herself was the cause of the poor
ewes wound because she had wounded the ewes shearer
in a  still more vital part it had a sting which the abiding
sense of his inferiority to both herself and boldwood was
not calculated to heal but a manly resolve to recognize
boldly that he had no longer a lovers interest in her
helped him oceasionally to conceal a feeling
 bottle   he shouted in an unmoved voice of routine
cainy ball ran up the wound was anointed and the
shearing continued
boldwood gently tossed bathsheba into the saddle
and before they turned away she again spoke out to oak
with the same dominative and tantalizing graciousness
i am going now to see mr boldwoods leicesters
take my place in the barn gabriel and keep the men
carefully to their work
the horses heads were put about and they trotted
away
boldwoods deep attachment was a matter of great
interest among all around him  but after having been
pointed out for so many years as the perfect exemplar
of thriving bachelorship his lapse was an anticlimax
somewhat resembling that of st john longs death by
consumption in the midst of his proofs that it was not
a fatal disease
 that means matrimony said temperance miller
following them out of sight with her eyes
i reckon thats the size ot said coggan working
along without looking up
 well better wed over the mixen than over the moor
said laban tall turning his sheep
henery fray spoke exhibiting miserable eyes at the
same time i dont see why a maid should take a
husband when shes bold enough to fight her own
battles and dont want a home  for tis keeping another
woman out but let it be for tis a pity he and she
should trouble two houses
as usual with decided characters bathsheba invari
ably provoked the criticism of individuals like henery
fray her emblazoned fault was to be too pronounced
in her objections and not sufficiently overt in her
likings we learn that it is not the rays which bodies
absorb but those which they reject that give them the
colours they are known by  and win the same way people
are specialized by their dislikes and antagonisms whilst
their goodwill is looked upon as no attribute at all
henery continued in a more complaisant mood  i
once hinted my mind to her on a few things as nearly
as a battered frame dared to do so to such a froward
piece you all know neighbours what a man i be
and how i come down with my powerful words when
my pride is boiling wi scarn 
 we do we do henery
 so i said  mistress everdene theres places empty
and theres gifted men willing  but the spite   no not
the spite  i didnt say spite  but the villainy of the
contrarikind i said meaning womankind  keeps em
out that wasnt too strong for her say  
 passably well put
yes and i would have said it had death and
salvation overtook me for it such is my spirit when i
have a mind
a true man and proud as a lucifer
you see the artfulness  why twas about being
baily really but i didnt put it so plain that she could
understand my meaning so i could lay it on all the
stronger that was my depth   however let her
marry an she will perhaps tis high time i believe
farmer boldwood kissed her behind the spearbed at the
sheepwashing tother day  that i do
 what a lie  said gabriel
 ah neighbour oak  howst know   said henery
mildly
 because she told me all that passed said oak with
a pharisaical sense that he was not as other shearers in
this matter
ye have a right to believe it said henery with
dudgeon a very true right but i mid see a little
distance into things  to be longheaded enough for a
bailys place is a poor mere trifle  yet a trifle more than
nothing however i look round upon life quite cool
do you heed me neighbours  my words though made
as simple as i can mid be rather deep for some heads
 o yes henery we quite heed ye
 a strange old piece goodmen  whirled about from
here to yonder as if i were nothing  a little warped
too but i have my depths ha and even my great
depths  i might gird at a certain shepherd brain to
brain but no  o no 
 a strange old piece ye say   interposed the maltster
in a querulous voice at the same time ye be no old
man worth naming  no old man at all yer teeth
baint  half  gone  yet  and whats a old  mans standing
if se be his teeth baint gone werent i stale in
wedlock afore ye were out  of arms  tis a poor thing
to be sixty when theres people far past fourscore  a
boastweak as water
it was the unvaying custom in weatherbury to
sink minor differences when the maltster had to be
pacified
 weak aswater  yes said jan coggan malter
we feel ye to be a wonderful veteran man and nobody
can gainsay it
 nobody said joseph poorgrass ye be a very
rare old  spectacle malter and we all admire ye for that
gift 
ay and as a young man when my senses were in
prosperity i was likewise liked by a goodfew who
knowed me said the maltster
 ithout doubt you was  ithout doubt
the bent and hoary man was satisfied and so
apparently was henery frag that matters should
continue pleasant maryann
spoke who what with her
brown complexion and the working wrapper of rusty
linsey had at present the mellow hue of an old sketch
in oils  notably some of nicholas poussins 
 do anybody know of a crooked man or a lame or
any secondhand fellow at all that would do for poor
me  said maryann a perfect one i dont expect to
 at my time of life if i could hear of such a thing
twould do me more good thantoast and ale
 coggan furnished a suitable reply oak went on
with his shearing and said not another word pestilent
moods had come and teased away his quiet bathsheba
had shown indications of anointing him above his
fellows by installing him as the bailiff that the farm
imperatively required he did not covet the post
relatively to the farm  in relation to herself as beloved
by him and unmarried to another he had coveted it
his readings of her seemed now to be vapoury and
indistinct his lecture to her was he thought one of
the absurdest mistakes far from coquetting with
boldwood she had trifled with himself in thus feigning
that she had trifled with another he was inwardly
convinced that in accordance with the anticipations of
his easygoing and worseeducated comrades that day
would see boldwood the accepted husband of miss
everdene gabriel at this time of his life had out
grown the instinctive dislike which every christian
boy has for reading the bible perusing it now quite
frequently and he inwardly said  i find more bitter
than death the woman whose heart is snares and
nets    this was mere exclamation  the froth of the
storm he adored bathsheba just the same
 we workfolk shall have some lordly junketing
tonight said cainy ball casting forth his thoughts in
a new direction this morning i seeem making the
great puddens in the milkingpails  lumps of fat as big
as yer thumb mister oak  ive never seed such
splendid large knobs of fat before in the days of my
life  they never used to be bigger then a horsebean
and there was a great black crock upon the brandise
with his legs asticking out but i dont know what was
in within
and theres two bushels of biffins for applepies
said maryann
well i hope to do my duty by it all said joseph
poorgrass in a pleasant masticating manner of anticipa
tion  yes  victuals and drink is a cheerful thing
and gives nerves to the nerveless if the form of words
may be used tis the gospel of the body without
which we perish so to speak it
eventide  a second declaration
for the shearingsupper a long table was placed on the
grassplot beside the house the end of the table being
thrust over the sill of the wide parlour window and a
foot or two into the room miss everdene sat inside
the window facing down the table she was thus at
the head without mingling with the men
this evening bathsheba was unusually excited her
red cheeks and lips contrasting lustrously with the mazy
skeins of her shadowy hair she seemed to expect
assistance and the seat at the bottom of the table was
at her request left vacant until after they had begun
and the duties appertaining to that end which he did
with great readiness
at this moment mr boldwood came in at the gate
and crossed the green to bathsheba at the window
he apologized for his lateness  his arrival was evidently
by arrangement
 gabriel said she  will you move again please
and let mr boldwood come there 
oak moved in silence back to his original seat
the gentlemanfarmer was dressed in cheerful style
in a new coat and white waistcoat quite contrasting
with his usual sober suits of grey inwardy too he
was blithe and consequently chatty to an exceptional
degree so also was bathsheba now that he had come
though the uninvited presence of pennyways the bailiff
who had been dismissed for theft disturbed her equan
imity for a while
supper being ended coggan began on his own
private account without reference to listeners  
lve lost my love and l care not
ive lost my love and l care not
i shall soon have another
thats better than tother
ive lost my love and i care not
this lyric when concluded was received with a
silently appreciative gaze at the table implying that the
performance like a work by those established authors
who are independent of notices in the papers was a
wellknown delight which required no applause
now master poorgass your song said coggan
i be all but in liquor and the gift is wanting in
me said joseph diminishing himself
nonsense woust never be so ungrateful joseph 
never said coggan expressing hurt feelings by an
inflection of voice and mistress is looking hard at
ye as much as to say sing at once joseph poor
grass 
faith so she is well i must suffer it  just
eye my features and see if the telltale blood overheats
me much neighbours
no yer blushes be quite reasonable said coggan
i always tries to keep my colours from rising when
a beautys eyes get fixed on me said joseph differently
but if so be tis willed they do they must
now joseph your song please said bathsheba
from the window
well really maam he replied in a yielding tone
i dont know what to say it would be a poor plain
ballet of my own composure
hear hear  said the supperparty
poorgrass thus assured trilled forth a flickering yet
commendable piece of sentiment the tune of which
consisted of the keynote and another the latter being
the sound chiefly dwelt upon this was so successful
that he rashly plunged into a second in the same
breath after a few false starts  
i sowed the
i sowed
i sowed thee seeds of love
iit was all iin thee spring
iin april maay and sunny june
when smaall biirds they do sing
 well put out of hand said coggan at the end of the
verse   they do sing  was a very taking paragraph
ay and there was a pretty place at seeds of
love and twas well heaved out though love  is
a nasty high corner when a mans voice is getting
crazed next verse master poorgrass
but during this rendering young bob coggan ex
hibited one of those anomalies which will afflict little
people when other persons are particularly serious  in
trying to check his laughter he pushed down his throat
as much of the tablecloth as he could get hold of when
after continuing hermetically sealed for a short time his
mirth burst out through his nose joseph perceived it
and with hectic cheeks of indignation instantly ceased
singing coggan boxed bobs ears immediately
go on joseph  go on and never mind the young
scamp said coggan tis a very catching ballet
now then again  the next bar ill help ye to flourish
up the shrill notes where yer wind is rather wheezy  
o the wiilloow tree will twist
and the willow treee wiill twine
but the singer could not be set going again bob
coggan was sent home for his ill manners and tran
quility was restored by jacob smallbury who volunteered
a ballad as inclusive and interminable as that with which
the worthy toper old silenus amused on a similar occasion
the swains chromis and mnasylus and other jolly dogs
of his day
it was still the beaming time of evening though
night was stealthily making itself visible low down upon
the ground the western lines of light taking the earth
without alighting upon it to any extent or illuminating
the dead levels at all the sun had crept round the
tree as a last effort before death and then began to
sink the shearers lower parts becoming steeped in
embrowning twilight whilst their heads and shoulders
were still enjoying day touched with a yellow of self
sustained brilliancy that seemed inherent rather than
acquired
the sun went down in an ochreous mist but they
sat and
talked on and grew as merry as the gods in
homers heaven bathsheba still remained enthroned
inside the window and occupied herself in knitting
from which she sometimes looked up to view the fading
scene outside the slow twilight expanded and enveloped
them completely before the signs of moving were shown
gabriel suddenly missed farmer boldwood from his
place at the bottom of the table how long he had
been gone oak did not know but he had apparently
withdrawn into the eneircling dusk whilst he was
thinking of this liddy brought candles into the back
part of the room overlooking the shearers and their
lively new flames shone down the table and over the
men and dispersed among the green shadows behind
bathshebas form still in its original position was now
again distinct between their eyes and the light which
revealed that boldwood had gone inside the room and
was sitting near her
next came the question of the evening would miss
everdene sing to them the song she always sang so
charmingly   the banks of allan water   before they
went home 
after a moments consideration bathsheba assented
beckoning to gabriel who hastened up into the coveted
atmosphere
 have you brought your flute   she whispered
 yes miss
 play to my singing then
she stood up in the windowopening facing the
men the candles behind her gabriel on her right hand
immediately outside the sashframe boldwood had
drawn up on her left within the room her singing
was soft and rather tremulous at first but it soon swelled
to a steady clearness subsequent events caused one
of the verses to be remembered for many months and
even years by more than one of those who were gathered
there  
for his bride a soldier sought her
and a winning tongue had he 
on the banks of allan water
none was gay as she 
in addition to the dulcet piping of gabriels flute
boldwood supplied a bass in his customary profound
voice uttering his notes so softly however as to abstain
entirely from making anything like an ordinary duet of
the song  they rather formed a rich unexplored shadow
which threw her tones into relief the shearers reclined
against each other as at suppers in the early ages of the
world and so silent and absorbed were they that her
breathing could almost be heard between the bars  and
at the end of the ballad when the last tone loitered on
to an inexpressible close there arose that buzz of
pleasure which is the attar of applause
it is scarcely necessary to state that gabriel could
not avoid noting the farmers bearing tonight towards
their entertainer yet there was nothing exceptional in
his actions beyond what appertained to his time of
performing them it was when the rest were all looking
away that boldwood observed her  when they regarded
her he turned aside when they thanked or praised he
was silent when they were inattentive he murmured
his thanks the meaning lay in the difference between
actions none of which had any meaning of itself
and the necessity of being jealous which lovers are
troubled with did not lead oak to underestimate these
signs
bathsheba then wished them goodnight withdrew
from the window and retired to the back part of the
room boldwood thereupon closing the sash and the
shutters and remaining inside with her oak wandered
away under the quiet and scented trees recovering
from the softer impressions produced by bathshebas
voice the shearers rose to leave coggan turning to
pennyways as he pushed back the bench to pass out  
i like to give praise where praise is due and the
man deserves it  that a do so he remarked looking at
the worthy thief as if he were the masterpiece of some
worldrenowned artist
im sure i should never have believed it if we hadn t
proved it so to allude hiccupped joseph poorgrass  that
every cup every one of the best knives and forks and
every empty bottle be in their place as perfect now as
at the beginning and not one stole at all
im sure i dont deserve half the praise you give
me said the virtuous thief grimly
 well ill say this for pennyways added coggan
that whenever he do really make up his mind to do a
noble thing in the shape of a good action as i could
see by his face he did tonight afore sitting down hes
generally able to carry it out yes im proud to say
neighbours that hes stole nothing at all
well  tis an honest deed and we thank ye for it
pennyways said joseph to which opinion the remainder
of the company subscribed unanimously
  at this time of departure when nothing more was
visible of the inside of the parlour than a thin and still
chink of light between the shutters a passionate scene
was in eourse of enactment there
miss everdene and boldwood were alone her
cheeks had lost a great deal of their healthful fire from
the very seriousness of her position  but her eye was
bright with the excitement of a triumph  though it was
a triumph which had rather been contemplated than
desired
she was standing behind a low armchair from which
she had just risen and he was kneeling in it  inclining
himself over its back towards her and holding her hand
in both his own his body moved restlessly and it was
with what keats daintily calls a too happy happiness
this unwonted abstraction by love of all dignity from
a man of whom it had ever seemed the chief component
was in its distressing incongruity a pain to her which
quenched much of the pleasure she derived from the
proof that she was idolized
 i will try to love you she was saying in a trembling
voice quite unlike her usual selfconfidence  and if i
can believe in any way that i shall make you a good
wife i shall indeed be willing to marry you but mr
boldwood hesitation on so high a matter is honourable
in any woman and i dont want to give a solemn
promise tonight i would rather ask you to wait a few
weeks till i can see my situation better
but you have every reason to believe that then    
i have every reason to hope that at the end of the
five or
six weeks between this time and harvest that
you say you are going to be away from home i shall be
able to promise to be your wife she said firmly but
remember this distinctly i dont promise yet
it is enough i dont ask more i can wait on
those dear words and now miss everdene good
night
 goodnight she said graciously  almost tenderly
and boldwood withdrew with a serene smile
bathsheba knew more of him now  he had entirely
bared his heart before her even until he had almost
worn in her eyes the sorry look of a grand bird without
the feathers that make it grand she had been awe
struck at her past temerity and was struggling to make
amends without thinking whether the sin quite deserved
the penalty she was schooling herself to pay to have
brought all this about her ears was terrible but after a
while the situation was not without a fearful joy the
facility with which even the most timid woman some
times acquire a relish for the dreadful when that is
amalgamated with a little triumph is marvellous
the same night  the fir plantation
among the multifarious duties which bathsheba had
voluntarily imposed upon herself by dispensing with the
services of a bailiff was the particular one of looking
round the homestead before going to bed to see that
all was right and safe for the night gabriel had almost
constantly preceded her in this tour every evening
watching her affairs as carefully as any specially appointed
officer of surveillance could have done but this tender
devotion was to a great extent unknown to his mistress
and as much as was known was somewhat thanklessly
received women are never tired of bewailing mans
fickleness in love but they only seem to snub his con
stancy
as watching is best done invisibly she usually carried
a dark lantern in her hand and every now and then
turned on the light to examine nooks and corners with
the coolness of a metropolitan policeman this cool
ness may have owed its existence not so much to her
fearlessness of expected danger as to her freedom from
the suspicion of any her worst anticipated discovery
being that a horse might not be well bedded the fowls
not all in or a door not closed
this night the buildings were inspected as usual
and she went round to the farm paddock here the
only sounds disturbing the stillness were steady munch
ings of many mouths and stentorian breathings from all
but invisible noses ending in snores and puffs like the
blowing of bellows slowly then the munching would
recommence when the lively imagination might assist
the eye to discern a group of pinkwhite nostrils shaped
as caverns and very clammy and humid on their sur
faces not exactly pleasant to the touch until one got
used to them the mouths beneath having a great
partiality for closing upon any loose end of bathshebas
apparel which came within
reach of their tongues
above each of these a still keener vision suggested a
brown forehead and two staring though not unfriendly
eyes and above all a pair of whitish crescentshaped
horns like two particularly new moons an occasional
stolid  moo proclaiming beyond the shade of a doubt
that these phenomena were the features and persons of
daisy whitefoot bonnylass jollyo spot twinkleeye
etc etc  the respectable dairy of devon cows belonging
to bathsheba aforesaid
her way back to the house was by a path through a
young plantation of tapering firs which had been planted
some years earlier to shelter the premises from the north
wind by reason of the density of the interwoven foliage
overhead it was gloomy there at cloudless noontide
twilight in the evening dark as midnight at dusk and
black as the ninth plague of egypt at midnight to
describe the spot is to call it a vast low naturally formed
hall the plumy ceiling of which was supported by slender
pillars of living wood the floor being covered with a soft
dun carpet of dead spikelets and mildewed cones with
a tuft of grassblades here and there
this bit of the path was always the crux of the
nights ramble though before starting her apprehen
sions of danger were not vivid enough to lead her to
take a companion slipping along here covertly as
time bathsheba fancied she could hear footsteps enter
ing the track at the opposite end it was certainly a
rustle of footsteps her own instantly fell as gently as
snowflakes she reassured herself by a remembrance
that the path was public and that the traveller was
probably some villager returning home  regetting at
the same time that the meeting should be about to
occur in the darkest point of her route even though
only just outside her own door
the noise approached came close and a figure was
apparently on the point of gliding past her when some
thing tugged at her skirt and pinned it forcibly to the
ground the instantaneous check nearly threw bath
sheba off her balance in recovering she struck against
warm clothes and buttons
a rum start upon my soul said a masculine voice
a foot or so above her head have i hurt you mate
no said bathsheba attempting to shrink a way
 we have got hitched together somehow i think
 yes
are you a woman 
yes
a lady i should have said
it doesnt matter
i am a man
oh
bathsheba softly tugged again but to no purpose
is that a dark lantern you have  i fancy so said
the man
yes
if youll allow me ill open it and set you free
a hand seized the lantern the door was opened the
rays burst out from their prison and bathsheba beheld
her position with astonishment
the man to whom she was hooked was brilliant in
brass and scarlet he was a soldier his sudden
appearance was to darkness what the sound of a trumpet
is to silense gloom the genius loci at all times hitherto
was now totally overthrown less by the lanternlight
than by what the lantern lighted the contrast of this
revelation with her anticipations of some sinister figure
in sombre garb was so great that it had upon her the
effect of a fairy transformation
it was immediately apparent that the military mans
spur had become entangled in the gimp which decorated
the skirt of her dress he caught a view of her face
ill unfasten you in one moment miss he said
with newborn gallantry
 o no  i can do it thank you she hastily replied
and stooped for the performance
the unfastening was not such a trifling affair the
rowel of the spur had so wound itself among the gimp
cords in those few moments that separation was likely
to be a matter of time
he too stooped and the lantern standing on the
ground betwixt them threw the gleam from its open side
among the firtree needles and the blades of long damp
grass with the effect of a large glowworm it radiated
upwards into their
faces and sent over half the planta
tion gigantic shadows of both man and woman each
dusky shape becoming distorted and mangled upon the
treetrunks till it wasted to nothing
he looked hard into her eyes when she raised them
for a moment bathsheba looked down again for his
gaze was too strong to be received pointblank with her
own but she had obliquely noticed that he was young
and slim and that he wore three chevrons upon his
sleeve
bathsheba pulled again
 you are a prisoner miss it is no use blinking the
matter said the soldier drily  i must cut your dress
if you are in such a hurry
 yes  please do she exclaimed helplessly 
it wouldnt be necessary if you could wait a
moment and he unwound a cord from the little
wheel she withdrew her own hand but whether by
accident or design he touched it bathsheba was
vexed she hardly knew why
his unravelling went on but it nevertheless seemed
coming to no end she looked at him again
thank you for the sight of such a beautiful face
said the young sergeant without ceremony
she coloured with embarrassment twas un
willingly shown she replied stiffly and with as much
dignity  which was very little  as she could infuse into
a position of captivity
i like you the better for that incivility miss he
said
 i should have liked  i wish  you had never shown
yourself to me by intruding here she pulled again
and the gathers of her dress began to give way like
liliputian musketry
 i deserve the chastisement your words give me
but why should such a fair and dutiful girl have such
an aversion to her fathers sex  
go on your way please
 what beauty and drag you after me  do but
look i never saw such a tangle
o tis shameful of you  you have been making
it worse on purpose to keep me here  you have  
indeed i dont think so said the sergeant with a
merry twinkle
i tell you you have she exclaimed in high
temper i insist upon undoing it now allow me
certainly miss i am not of steel he added a
sigh which had as much archness in it as a sigh could
possess without losing its nature altogether i am
thankful for beauty even when tis thrown to me like
a bone to a dog these moments will be over too
soon
she closed her lips in a determined silence
bathsheba was revolving in her mind whether by a
bold and desperate rush she could free herself at the
risk of leaving her skirt bodily behind her the
thought was too dreadful the dress  which she had
put on to appear stately at the supper  was the head
and front of her wardrobe  not another in her stock
became her so well what woman in bathshebas
position not naturally timid and within call of her
retainers would have bought escape from a dashing
soldier at so dear a price 
all in good time  it will soon be done i perceive
said her cool friend
 this trifling provokes and  and    
 not too cruel
   insults me
it is done in order that i may have the pleasure
of apologizing to so charming a woman which i
straightway do most humbly madam he said bowing
low
bathsheba really knew not what to say
ive seen a good many women in my time
continued the young man in a murmur and more
thoughtfully than hitherto critically regarding her bent
head at the same time but ive never seen a woman
so beautiful as you take it or leave it  be offended
or like it  i dont care
 who are you then who can so well afford to
despise opinion  
 no stranger sergeant troy i am staying in
this place  there  it is undone at last you see
your light fingers were more eager than mine i wish it
had been the knot of knots which theres no untying  
this was worse and worse she started up and so
did he
how to decently get away from him  that
was her difficulty now she sidled off inch by inch
the lantern in her hand till she could see the redness
of his coat no longer
 ah beauty  goodbye   he said
she made no reply and reaching a distance of
twenty or thirty yards turned about and ran indoors
liddy had just retired to rest in ascending to her
own chamber bathsheba opened the girls door an
inch or two and panting said 
 liddy is any soldier staying in the village 
sergeant somebody  rather gentlemanly for a sergeant
and good looking  a red coat with blue facings 
no miss  no i say but really it might be
sergeant troy home on furlough though i have not
seen him he was here once in that way when the
regiment was at casterbridge
 yes thats the name had he a moustache  no
whiskers or beard 
 he had
 what kind of a person is he 
o  miss  i blush to name it  a gay man but
i know him to be very quick and trim who might have
made his thousands like a squire such a clever
young dand as he is hes a doctors son by name
which is a great deal and hes an earls son by
nature
 which is a great deal more fancy is it true  
 yes and he was brought up so well and sent to
casterbridge grammar school for years and years
learnt all languages while he was there  and it was
said he got on so far that he could take down chinese
in shorthand  but that i dont answer for as it was
only reported however he wasted his gifted lot
and listed a soldier but even then he rose to be a
sergeant without trying at all ah such a blessing it
is to be highborn  nobility of blood will shine out even
in the ranks and files and is he really come home
miss 
 i believe so goodnight liddy
after all how could a cheerful wearer of skirts
be permanently offended with the man  there are
occasions when girls like bathsheba will put up with
a great deal of
unconventional behaviour when they
want to be praised which is often when they want to
be mastered which is sometimes  and when they want
no nonsense which is seldom just now the first
feeling was in the ascendant with bathsheba with a dash
of the second moreover by chance or by devilry the
ministrant was antecedently made interesting by being
a handsome stranger who had evidently seen better
days
so she could not clearly decide whether it was her
opinion that he had insulted her or not 
was ever anything so odd  she at last exclaimed
to herself in her own room and was ever anything
so meanly done as what i did to to sulk away like that
from a man who was only civil and kind clearly she
did not think his barefaced praise of her person an
insult now
it was a fatal omission of boldwoods that he had
never once told her she was beautiful
the new acquaintance described
idiosyncrasy and vicissitude had combined to
stamp sergeant troy as an exceptional being
he was a man to whom memories were an in
cumbrance and anticipations a superfluity simply
feeling considering and caring for what was before his
eyes he was vulnerable only in the present his out
look upon time was as a transient flash of the eye now
and then  that projection of consciousness into days
gone by and to come which makes the past a synonym
for the pathetic and the future a word for circum
spection was foreign to troy with him the past
was yesterday  the future tomorrow  never the day
after
on this account he might in certain lights have
been regarded as one of the most fortunate of his
order for it may be argued with great plausibility
that reminiscence is less an endowment than a disease
and that expectation in its only comfortable form  that
of absolute faith  is practically an impossibility whilst
in the form of hope and the secondary compounds
patience impatience resolve curiosity it is a constant
fluctuation between pleasure and pain
sergeant troy being entirely innocent of the
practice of expectation was never disappointed to
set against this negative gain there may have been
some positive losses from a certain narrowing of the
higher tastes and sensations which it entailed but
limitation of the capacity is never recognized as a loss
by the loser therefrom  in this attribute moral or
aesthetic poverty contrasts plausibly with material since
those who suffer do not mind it whilst those who mind
it soon cease to suffer it is not a denial of anything
to have been always without it and what troy had
never enjoyed he did not miss but being fully
conscious that what sober
people missed he enjoyed
his capacity though really less seemed greater than
theirs
he was moderately truthful towards men but to
women lied like a cretan  a system of ethics above all
others calculated to win popularity at the first flush of
admission into lively society  and the possibility of the
favour gained being transitory had reference only to
the future
he never passed the line which divides the spruce
vices from the ugly  and hence though his morals had
hardly been applauded disapproval of them had fre
quently been tempered with a smile this treatment
had led to his becoming a sort of regrater of other
mens gallantries to his own aggrandizement as a
corinthian rather than to the moral profit of his
hearers
his reason and his propensities had seldom any
reciprocating influence having separated by mutual
consent long ago  thence it sometimes happened that
while his intentions were as honourable as could be
wished any particular deed formed a dark background
which threw them into fine relief the sergeants
vicious phases being the offspring of impulse and
his virtuous phases of cool meditation the latter
had a modest tendency to be oftener heard of than
seen
troy was full of activity but his activities were less of
a locomotive than a vegetative nature  and never being
based upon any original choice of foundation or direc
tion they were exercised on whatever object chance
might place in their way hence whilst he sometimes
reached the brilliant in speech because that was
spontaneous he fell below the commonplace in action
from inability to guide incipient effort he had a
quick comprehension and considerable force of char
acter  but being without the power to combine them
the comprehension became engaged with trivialities
whilst waiting for the will to direct it and the force
wasted itself in useless grooves through unheeding the
comprehension
he was a fairly welleducated man for one of middle
class  exceptionally well educated for a common soldier
he spoke fluently and unceasingly he could in this
way be one thing and seem another  for instance he
could speak of love and
think of dinner call on the
intend to owe
the wondrous power of flattery in passados at woman
is a perception so universal as to be remarked upon by
many people almost as automatically as they repeat a
proverb or say that they are christians and the like
without thinking much of the enormous corollaries
which spring from the proposition still less is it acted
upon for the good of the complemental being alluded
to with the majority such an opinion is shelved with
all those trite aphorisms which require some catastrophe
to bring their tremendous meanings thoroughly home
when expressed with some amount of reflectiveness it
seems coordinate with a belief that this flattery must
be reasonable to be effective it is to the credit of
men that few attempt to settle the question by experi
ment and it is for their happiness perhaps that accident
has never settled it for them nevertheless that a
male dissembler who by deluging her with untenable
fictions charms the female wisely may acquire powers
reaching to the extremity of perdition is a truth taught
to many by unsought and wringing occurrences and
some profess to have attained to the same knowledge
by experiment as aforesaid and jauntily continue their
indulgence in such experiments with terrible effect
sergeant troy was one
he had been known to observe casually that in
dealing with womankind the only alternative to flattery
was cursing and swearing there was no third method
 treat them fairly and you are a lost man he would
say
this philosophers public appearance in weatherbury
promptly followed his arrival there a week or two
after the shearing bathsheba feeling a nameless relief
of spirits on account of boldwoods absence approached
her hayfields and looked over the hedge towards the
haymakers they consisted in about equal proportions
of gnarled and flexuous forms the former being the
men the latter the women who wore tilt bonnets
covered with nankeen which hung in a curtain upon
their shoulders coggan and mark clark were mowing
in a less forward meadow clark humming a tune to
the strokes of his
scythe to which jan made no attempt
to keep time with his in the first mead they were
already loading hay the women raking it into cocks
and windrows and the men tossing it upon the
waggon
from behind the waggon a bright scarlet spot
emerged and went on loading unconcernedly with the
rest it was the gallant sergeant who had come hay
making for pleasure  and nobody could deny that he
was doing the mistress of the farm real knightservice
by this voluntary contribution of his labour at a busy
time
as soon as she had entered the field troy saw her
and sticking his pitchfork into the ground and picking
up his crop or cane he came forward bathsheba
blushed with halfangry embarrassment and adjusted
her eyes as well as her feet to the direct line of her
path
scene on the verge of the haymead
ah miss everdene said the sergeant touching his
diminutive cap little did i think it was you i was
speaking to the other night and yet if i had reflected
the queen of the cornmarket truth is truth at any
hour of the day or night and i heard you so named in
casterbridge yesterday the queen of the cornmarket
i say could be no other woman i step across now to
beg your forgiveness a thousand times for having been
led by my feelings to express myself too strongly for a
stranger to be sure i am no stranger to the place 
i am sergeant troy as i told you and i have assisted
your uncle in these fields no end of times when i was a
lad i have been doing the same for you today
i suppose i must thank you for that sergeant
troy said the queen of the cornmarket in an in
differently grateful tone
the sergeant looked hurt and sad indeed you
must not miss everdene he said  why could you
think such a thing necessary  
i am glad it is not
 why  if i may ask without offence
 because i dont much want to thank you for any
thing
i am afraid i have made a hole with my tongue
that my heart will never mend o these intolerable
times that illluck should follow a man for honestly
telling a woman she is beautiful twas the most i
said  you must own that and the least i could say 
that i own myself
there is some talk i could do without more easily
than money
indeed that remark is a sort of digression
 no it means that i would rather have your room
than your company
and i would rather have curses from you than
kisses from any other woman  so ill stay here
bathsheba was absolutely speechless and yet she
could not help feeling that the assistance he was render
ing forbade a harsh repulse
 well continued troy i suppose there is a praise
which is rudeness and that may be mine at the
same time there is a treatment which is injustice and
that may be yours because a plain blunt man who
has never been taught concealment speaks out his
mind without exactly intending it hes to be snapped
off like the son of a sinner
indeed theres no such case between us she said
turning away i dont allow strangers to be bold and
impudent  even in praise of me
 ah  it is not the fact but the method which offends
you he said carelessly but i have the sad satis
faction of knowing that my words whether pleasing or
offensive are unmistakably true would you have had
me look at you and tell my acquaintance that you are
quite a commonplace woman to save you the embar
rassment of being stared at if they come near you 
not i i couldnt tell any such ridiculous lie about
a beauty to encourage a single woman in england in
too excessive a modesty
it is all pretence  what you are saying exclaimed
bathsheba laughing in spite of herself at the sergeants
sly method  you have a rare invention sergeant
troy why couldnt you have passed by me that
night and said nothing   that was all i meant to
reproach you for
because i wasnt going to half the pleasure of
a feeling lies in being able to express it on the spur of
the moment and i let out mine it would have been
just the same if you had been the reverse person  ugly
and old  i should have exclaimed about it in the same
way 
 how long is it since you have been so afflicted with
strong feeling then  
 oh ever since i was big enough to know loveliness
from deformity
tis to be hoped your sense of the difference you
speak of doesnt stop at faces but extends to morals as
well 
i wont speak of morals or religion  my own or
anybody elses though perhaps i should have been a
very good christian if you pretty women hadnt made
me an idolater
bathsheba moved on to hide the irrepressible dimp
lings of merriment troy followed whirling his crop
but  miss everdene  you do forgive me  
 hardly 
why 
 you say such things
i said you were beautiful and ill say so still for
by   so you are  the most beautiful ever i saw or
may i fall dead this instant why upon my    
 dont  dont i wont listen to you  you are so
profane she said in a restless state between distress
at hearing him and a penchant to hear more
i again say you are a most fascinating woman
theres nothing remarkable in my saying so is there
im sure the fact is evident enough miss everdene
my opinion may be too forcibly let out to please you
and for the matter of that too insignificant to convince
you but surely it is honest and why cant it be ex
cused 
because it  it isnt a correct one she femininely
murmured
  fie  fie am i any worse for breaking the
third of that terrible ten than you for breaking the
ninth 
well it doesnt seem quite true to me that i am
fascinating she replied evasively
 not so to you  then i say with all respect that if
so it is owing to your modesty miss everdene but
surely you must have been told by everybody of what
everybody notices  and you should take their words
for it
 they dont say so exactly
 o yes they must
well i mean to my face as you do she went on
allowing
herself to be further lured into a conversation
that intention had rigorously forbidden
but you know they think so 
no  that is  i certainly have heard liddy say
they do but     she paused
capitulation  that was the purport of the simple
reply guarded as it was  capitulation unknown to her
self never did a fragile tailless sentence convey a
more perfect meaning the careless sergeant smiled
within himself and probably too the devil smiled from
a loophole in tophet for the moment was the turning
point of a career her tone and mien signified beyond
mistake that the seed which was to lift the foundation
had taken root in the chink  the remainder was a mere
question of time and natural changes
there the truth comes out   said the soldier in
reply never tell me that a young lady can live in a
buzz of admiration without knowing something about it
ah well miss everdene you are  pardon my blunt
way  you are rather an injury to our race than other
wise
 how  indeed   she said opening her eyes
o it is true enough i may as well be hung for
a sheep as a lamb an old country saying not of much
account but it will do for a rough soldier and so i
will speak my mind regardless of your pleasure and
without hoping or intending to get your pardon why
miss everdene it is in this manner that your good
looks may do more harm than good in the world
the sergeant looked down the mead in critical abstrac
ion  probably some one man on an average falls in
love with each ordinary woman she can marry him 
he is content and leads a useful life such women as
you a hundred men always covet  your eyes will be
witch scores on scores into an unavailing fancy for you
you can only marry one of that many out of these
say twenty will endeavour to drown the bitterness of
espised love in drink  twenty more will mope away
their lives without a wish or attempt to make a mark in
he world because they have no ambition apart from
their attachment to you  twenty more  the susceptible
person
myself possibly among them  will be always
draggling after you getting where they may just see
you doing desperate things men are such constant
fools the rest may try to get over their passion with
more or less success but all these men will be
saddened and not only those ninetynine men but
the ninetynine women they might have married are
saddened with them theres my tale thats why i
say that a woman so charming as yourself miss ever
dene is hardly a blessing to her race
the handsome sergeants features were during this
speech as rigid and stern as john knoxs in addressing
his gay young queen
seeing she made no reply he said do you read
french  
no i began but when i got to the verbs father
died she said simply
i do  when i have an opportunity which latterly
has not been often my mother was a parisienne  and
theres a proverb they have qui aime bien chatie bien
  he chastens who loves well do you understand
me
ah she replied and there was even a little tremu
lousness in the usually cool girls voice if you can
only fight half as winningly as you can talk you are
able to make a pleasure of a bayonet wound and
then poor bathsheba instanly perceived her slip in
making this admission in hastily trying to retrieve it
she went from bad to worse dont however suppose
that i derive any pleasure from what you tell me
i know you do not  i know it perfectly said troy
with much hearty conviction on the exterior of his face
and altering the expression to moodiness when a
dozen men arfe ready to speak tenderly to you and
give the admiration you deserve without adding the
warning you need it stands to reason that my poor
roughandready mixture of praise and blame cannot
convey much pleasure fool as i may be i am not so
conceited as to suppose that
i think you  are conceited nevertheless said
bathsheba looking askance at a reed she was fitfully
pulling with one hand having lately grown feverish
under the soldiers
system of procedure  not because
the nature of his cajolery was entirely unperceived but
because its vigour was overwelming
i would not own it to anybody esle  nor do i
exactly to you still there might have been some self
conceit in my foolish supposition the other night i
knew that what i said in admiration might be an
opinion too often forced upon you to give any pleasure
but i certainly did think that the kindness of your
nature might prevent you judging an uncontrolled
tongue harshly  which you have done  and thinking
badly of me and wounding me this morning when i
am working hard to save your hay
well you need not think more of that perhaps you
did not mean to be rude to me by speaking out your
mind indeed i believe you did not said the shrewd
woman in painfully innocent earnest and i thank
you for giving help here but  but mind you dont
speak to me again in that way or in any other unless
i speak to you
o miss bathsheba that is to hard
no it isnt why is it
you will never speak to me for i shall not be
here long i am soon going back again to the miser
able monotony of drill  and perhaps our regiment will
be ordered out soon and yet you take away the one
little ewelamb of plaesure that i have in this dull life
of mine well perhaps generosity is not a womans
most marked characteristic
when are you going from here she asked with
some interest
in a month
but how can it give you pleasure to speak to me
can you ask miss everdene  knowing as you do
  what my offence is based on
i you do care so much for a silly trifle of that
kind then i dont mind doing it she uncertainly and
doubtingly answered but you cant really care for a
word from me you only say so  i think you only
say so
thats unjust  but i wont repeat the remark i
am too
gratified to get such a mark of your friendship
at any price to cavil at the tone i do miss everdene
care for it you may think a man foolish to want a
mere word   just a good morning perhaps he is  i
dont know but you have never been a man looking
upon a woman and that woman yourself
 well
 then you know nothing of what such an experience
is like  and heaven forbid that you ever should
nonsense flatterer what is it like i am
interested in knowing
put shortly it is not being able to think hear or
look in any direction except one without wretchedness
nor there without torture
 ah sergeant it wont do  you are pretending   she
said shaking her head  your words are too dashing
to be true
i am not upon the honour of a soldier
but why is it so  of course i ask for mere pas
time
 because you are so distracting  and i am so
distracted 
 you look like it
 i am indeed
 why you only saw me the other night
 that makes no difference the lightning works in
stantaneously i loved you then at once  as i do now
bathsheba surveyed him curiously from the feet
upward as high as she liked to venture her glance
which was not quite so high as his eyes
 you cannot and you dont she said demurely
there isno such sudden feeling in people i wont
listen to you any longer hear me i wish i knew what
oclock it is  i am going  i have wasted too much time
here already
the sergeant looked at his watch and told her
 what havent you a watch miss he inquired
i have not just at present  i am about to get a
new one
no you shall be given one yes  you  shall
a gift miss everdene  a gift
and before she knew what the young  man was
intending a heavy gold watch was in her hand
it is an unusually good one for a man like me to
possess he quietly said that watch has a history
press the spring and open the back
she did so
what do you see
a crest and a motto
 a coronet with five points and beneath cedit amor
rebus  love yields to circumstance its the motto
of the earls of severn that watch belonged to the
last lord and was given to my mothers husband a
medical man for his use till i came of age when it was
to be given to me it was all the fortune that ever i
inherited that watch has regulated imperial interests
in its time  the stately ceremonial the courtly assigna
tion pompous travels and lordly sleeps now it is
yours
 but sergeant troy i cannot take this  i cannot  
she exclaimed with roundeyed wonder  a gold watch 
what are you doing dont be such a dissembler
the sergeant retreated to avoid receiving back his
gift which she held out persistently towards him
bathsheba followed as he retired
keep it  do miss everdene  keep it  said the
erratic child of impulse  the fact of your possessing
it makes it worth ten times as much to me a more
plebeian one will answer my purpose just as well and
the pleasure of knowing whose heart my old one beats
against  well i wont speak of that it is in far
worthier hands than ever it has been in before
but indeed i cant have it she said in a perfect
simmer of distress  o how can you do such a thing 
that is if you really mean it give me your dead
fathers watch and such a valuable one you should
not be so reckless indeed sergeant troy
i loved my father good but better i love you
more thats how i can do it said the sergeant with
an intonation of such exquisite fidelity to nature that it
was evidently not all acted now her beauty which
whilst it had been quiescent he had praised in jest
had in its animated phases moved him to
earnest and
though his seriousness was less than she imagined it
was probably more than he imagined himself
bathsheba was brimming with agitated bewilderment
and she said in halfsuspicious accents of feeling can
it be  how can it be that you care for me and
so suddenly you have seen so little of me i may
not be really so  so nicelooking as i seem to you
please do take it  o do i cannot and will not have
it believe me your generosity is too great i have
never done you a single kindness and why should you
be so kind to me
a factitious reply had been again upon his lips but
it was again suspended and he looked at her with an
arrested eye the truth was that as she now stood 
excited wild and honest as the day   her alluring
beauty bore out so fully the epithets he had bestowed
upon it that he was quite startled at his temerity in
advancing them as false he said mechanically ah
why  and continued to look at her
and my workfolk see me following you about the
field and are wondering o this is dreadful she
went on unconscious of the transmutation she was
effecting
i did not quite mean you to accept it at first for it
as my one poor patent of nobility he broke out
bluntly but upon my soul i wish you would now
without any shamming come dont deny me the
happiness of wearing it for my sake  but you are too
lovely even to care to be kind as others are
 no no  dont say so  i have reasons for reserve
which i cannot explain
 bet it be then let it be he said receiving back
the watch at last i must be leaving you now and
will you speak to me for these few weeks of my stay  
indeed i will yet i dont know if i will o
why did you come and disturb me so 
perhaps in setting a gin i have caught myself
such things have happened well will you let me
work in your fields   he coaxed
 yes i suppose so  if it is any pleasure to you
 miss everdene i thank you
 no no
goodbye
the sergeant brought his hand to the cap on the
slope of his head saluted and returned to the distant
group of haymakers
bathsheba could not face the haymakers now her
heart erratically flitting hither and thither from per
plexed excitement hot and almost tearful she retreated
homeward murmuring o what have i done  what
does it mean  i wish i knew how much of it was
true
hiving the bees
the weatherbury bees were late in their swarming this
year it was in the latter part of june and the day after
the interview with troy in the hayfield that bathsheba
was standing in her garden watching a swarm in the
air and guessing their probable settling place not only
were they late this year but unruly sometimes through
out a whole season all the swarms would alight on the
lowest attainable bough  such as part of a currantbush
or espalier appletree  next year they would with just
the same unanimity make straight off to the uppermost
member of some tall gaunt costard or quarrenden
and there defy all invaders who did not come armed
with ladders and staves to take them
this was the case at present bathshebas eyes
shaded by one hand were following the ascending
multitude against the unexplorable stretch of blue till
they ultimately halted by one of the unwieldy trees
spoken of a process somewhat analogous to that of
alleged formations of the universe time and times ago
was observable the bustling swarm had swept the sky
in a scattered and uniform haze which now thickened to
a nebulous centre this glided on to a bough and grew
still denser till it formed a solid black spot upon the
light
the men and women being all busily engaged in
saving the hay  even liddy had left the house for the
purpose of lending a hand  bathsheba resolved to hive
the bees herself if possible she had dressed the hive
with herbs and honey fetched a ladder brush and
crook made herself impregnable with armour of leather
gloves straw hat and large gauze veil  once green but
now faded to snuff colour  and ascended a dozen rungs
of the ladder at once she heard not ten yards off
a voice that was beginning to have a strange power in
agitating her
miss everdene let me assist you  you should not
attempt such a thing alone
troy was just opening the garden gate
bathsheba flung down the brush crook and empty
hive pulled the skirt of her dress tightly round her
ankles in a tremendous flurry and as well as she could
slid down the ladder by the time she reached the
bottom troy was there also and he stooped to pick
up the hive
how fortunate i am to have dropped in at this
moment exclaimed the sergeant
she found her voice in a minute what and will
you shake them in for me she asked in what for a
defiant girl was a faltering way though for a timid
girl it would have seemed a brave way enough
 will i   said troy  why of course i will how
blooming you are today   troy flung down his cane
and put his foot on the ladder to ascend
but you must have on the veil and gloves or youll
be stung fearfully
ah yes i must put on the veil and gloves will
you kindly show me how to fix them properly
and you must have the broadbrimmed hat too  for
your cap has no brim to keep the veil off and theyd
reach your face
 the broadbrimmed hat too by all means
so a whimsical fate ordered that her hat should be
taken off  veil and all attached  and placed upon his
head troy tossing his own into a gooseberry bush
then the veil had to be tied at its lower edge round
his collar and the gloves put on him
he looked such an extraordinary object in this guise
that flurried as she was she could not avoid laughing
outright it was the removal of yet another stake from
the palisade of cold manners which had kept him off
bathsheba looked on from the gound whilst he was
busy sweeping and shaking the bees from the tree
holding up the hive with the other hand for them to
fall into she made use of an unobserved minute
whilst his attention was absorbed in the
operation to
arrange her plumes a little he came down holding
the hive at arms length behind which trailed a cloud
of bees
 upon my life said troy through the veil  holding
up this hive makes ones arm ache worse than a week
of swordexercise when the manoeuvre was complete
he approached her would you be good enough to
untie me and let me out i am nearly stifled inside
this silk cage
to hide her embarrassment during the unwonted
process of untying the string about his neck she said  
i have never seen that you spoke of
what 
the swordexercise
ah  would you like to  said troy
bathsheba hesitated she had heard wondrous
reports from time to time by dwellers in weatherbury
who had by chance sojourned awhile in casterbridge
near the barracks of this strange and glorious perform
ance tlie swordexercise men and boys who had
peeped through chinks or over walls into the barrack
yard returned with accounts of its being the most
flashing affair conceivable  accoutrements and weapons
glistening like starsheretherearoundyet all by rule
and compass so she said mildly what she felt strongly
yes  i should like to see it very much
and so you shall you shall see me go through it
no how
let me consider
not with a walkingstick  i dont care to see that
lt must be a real sword
yes i know and i have no sword here but i
think i could get one by the evening now will you
do this
o no indeed  said bathsheba blushing  thank
you very much but i couldnt on any account
surely you might nobody would know
she shook her head but with a weakened negation
 if i were to she said i must bring liddy too might
i not
troy looked far away i dont see why you want
to bring her he said coldly
an unconscious look of assent in bathshebas eyes
betrayed that something more than his coldness had
made her also feel that liddy would be superfluous in
the suggested scene she had felt it even whilst making
the proposal
well i wont bring liddy  and ill come but
only for a very short time she added a very short
time
it will not take five minutes said troy
the hollow amid the ferns
the hill opposite bathshebas dwelling extended a
mile off into an uncultivated tract of land dotted at
this season with tall thickets of brake fern plump and
diaphanous from recent rapid growth and radiant in
hues of clear and untainted green
at eight oclock this midsummer evening whilst the
bristling ball of gold in the west still swept the tips of
the ferns with its long luxuriant rays a soft brushing
by of garments might have been heard among them
and bathsheba appeared in their midst their soft
feathery arms caressing her up to her shoulders she
paused turned went back over the hill and halfway
to her own door whence she cast a farewell glance upon
the spot she had just left having resolved not to remain
near the place after all
she saw a dim spot of artificial red moving round
the shoulder of the rise it disappeared on the other
side
she waited one minute  two minutes  thought of
troys disappointment at her nonfulfilment of a promised
engagement till she again ran along the field clambered
over the bank and followed the original direction she
was now literally trembling and panting at this her
temerity in such an errant undertaking her breath
came and went quickly and her eyes shone with an in
frequent light yet go she must she reached the
verge of a pit in the middle of the ferns troy stood
in the bottom looking up towards her
i heard you rustling through the fern before i saw
you he said coming up and giving her his hand to help
her down the slope
the pit was a saucershaped concave naturally
formed with a top diameter of about thirty feet and
shallow enough to allow the sunshine to reach their
heads standing in the
centre the sky overhead was
met by a circular horizon of fern  this grew nearly to
the bottom of the slope and then abruptly ceased the
middle within the belt of verdure was floored with a
thick flossy carpet of moss and grass intermingled so
yielding that the foot was halfburied within it
now said troy producing the sword which as he
raised it into the sunlight gleamed a sort of greeting
like a living thing first we have four right and four
left cuts four right and four left thrusts infantry cuts
and guards are more interesting than ours to my mind
but they are not so swashing they have seven cuts
and three thrusts so much as a preliminary well
next our cut one is as if you were sowing your corn 
so bathsheba saw a sort of rainbow upside down in
the air and troys arm was still again cut two as if
you were hedging  so three as if you were reaping
  so four as if you were threshing  in that way
then the same on the left the thrusts are these  one
two three four right  one two three four left he
repeated them have em again  he said one
two    
she hurriedly interrupted  id rather not though
i dont mind your twos and fours but your ones and
threes are terrible 
very well ill let you off the ones and threes
next cuts points and guards altogether troy duly
exhibited them then theres pursuing practice in
this way he gave the movements as before there
those are the stereotyped forms the infantry have
two most diabolical upward cuts which we are too
humane to use like this  three four
how murderous and bloodthirsty 
they are rather deathy now ill be more inter
esting and let you see some loose play  giving all the
cuts and points infantry and cavalry quicker than
lightning and as promiscuously  with just enough rule
to regulate instinct and yet not to fetter it you are
my antagonist with this difference from real warfare
that i shall miss you every time by one hairs breadth
or perhaps two mind you dont flinch whatever you
do
ill be sure not to she said invincibly
he pointed to about a yard in front of him
bathshebas adventurous spirit was beginning to find
some grains of relish in these highly novel proceedings
she took up her position as directed facing troy
now just to learn whether you have pluck enough
to let me do what i wish ill give you a preliminary
test
he flourished the sword by way of introduction
number two and the next thing of which she was
conscious was that the point and blade of the sword
were darting with a gleam towards her left side just
above her hip then of their reappearance on her right
side emerging as it were from between her ribs having
apparently passed through her body the third item
of consciousness was that of seeing the same sword
perfectly clean and free from blood held vertically in
troys hand in the position technically called recover
swords all was as quick as electricity
oh she cried out in affright pressing her hand to
her side  have you run me through   no you have
not whatever have you done
i have not touched you said troy quietly it
was mere sleight of hand the sword passed behind
you now you are not afraid are you  because if
you are l cant perform i give my word that l will
not only not hurt you but not once touch you
i dont think i am afraid you are quite sure you
will not hurt me 
quite sure
is the sword very sharp 
o no  only stand as still as a statue now 
in an instant the atmosphere was transformed to
bathshebas eyes beams of light caught from the low
suns rays above around in front of her wellnigh shut
out earth and heaven  all emitted in the marvellous
evolutions of troys reflecting blade which seemed
everywhere at once and yet nowherre specially these
circling gleams were accompanied by a keen rush that
was almost a whistling  also springing
from all sides of
her at once in short she was enclosed in a firmament
of light and of sharp hisses resembling a skyfull of
meteors close at hand
never since the broadsword became the national
weapon had there been more dexterity shown in its
management than by the hands of sergeant troy and
never had he been in such splendid temper for the
performance as now in the evening sunshine among the
ferns with bathsheba it may safely be asserted with
respect to the closeness of his cuts that had it been
possible for the edge of the sword to leave in the air a
permanent substance wherever it flew past the space
left untouched would have been almost a mould of
bathshebas figure
behind the luminous streams of this aurora militaris
she could see the hue of troys sword arm spread in a
scarlet haze over the space covered by its motions like
a twanged harpstring and behind all troy himself
mostly facing her sometimes to show the rear cuts
half turned away his eye nevertheless always keenly
measuring her breadth and outline and his lips tightly
closed in sustained effort next his movements lapsed
slower and she could see them individually the
hissing of the sword had ceased and he stopped
entirely
that outer loose lock of hair wants tidying he
said before she had moved or spoken wait ill do
it for you
an arc of silver shone on her right side the sword
had descended the lock droped to the ground
bravely borne said troy you didnt flinch a
shades thickness wonderful in a woman
it was because i didnt expect it o you have
spoilt my hair
only once more
no  no i am afraid of you  indeed i am  she
cried
i wont touch you at all  not even your hair i
am only going to kill that caterpillar settling on you
now still
it appeared that a caterpillar had come from the
fern and chosen the front of her bodice as his resting
place she saw the point glisten towards her bosom
and seemingly enter it bathsheba closed her eyes in
the full persuasion that she was
killed at last how
ever feeling just as usual she opened them again
there it is look said the sargeant holding his
sword before her eyes
the caterpillar was spitted upon its point
why it is magic said bathsheba amazed
o no  dexterity i merely gave point to your
bosom where the caterpillar was and instead of running
you through checked the extension a thousandth of an
inch short of your surface
but how could you chop off a curl of my hair with
a sword that has no edge
the hollow amid the ferns
no edge  this sword will shave like a razor
look here
he touched the palm of his hand with the blade
and then lifting it showed her a thin shaving of scarf
skin dangling therefrom
 but you said before beginning that it was blunt and
couldnt cut me 
that was to get you to stand still and so make sure
of your safety the risk of injuring you through your
moving was too great not to force me to tell you a
fib to escape it
she shuddered i have been within an inch of my
life and didnt know it 
more precisely speaking you have been within half
an inch of being pared alive two hundred and ninetyfive
tinies
 cruel cruel tis of you  
 you have been perfectly safe nevertheless my
sword never errs and troy returned the weapon to
the scabbard
bathsheba overcome by a hundred tumultuous feel
ings resulting from the scene abstractedly sat down on
a tuft of heather
i must leave you now said troy softly  and ill
venture to take and keep this in remembrance of you
she saw him stoop to the grass pick up the winding
lock which he had severcd from her manifold tresses
twist it round his fingers unfasten a button in the hreast
of his coat and carefully put it inside she felt power
less to withstand or deny him he was altogether too
much for her and bathsheba
seemed as one who facing
a reviving wind finds it blow so strongly that it stops
the breath
he drew near and said i must be leaving you
he drew nearer still a minute later and she saw his
scarlet form disappear amid the ferny thicket almost in
a flash like a brand swiftly waved
that minutes interval had brought the blood beating
into her face set her stinging as if aflame to the very
hollows oi her feet and enlarged emotion to a compass
which quite swamped thought it had brought upon
her a stroke resulting as did that of moses in horeh in
a liquid stream  here a stream of tears she felt like
one who has sinned a great sin
the circumstance had been the gentle dip of troys
mouth downwards upon her own he had kissed her
particulars of a twilight walk
particulars of a twilight walk
we now see the element of folly distinctly mingling
with the many varying particulars which made up the
character of bathsheba everdene it was almost foreign
to her intrinsic nature introduced as lymph on the
dart of eros it eventually permeated and coloured
her whole constitution bathsheba though she had too
much understanding to be entirely governed by her
womanliness had too much womanliness to use her
understanding to the best advantage perhaps in no
minor point does woman astonish her helpmate more
than in the strange power she possesses of believing
cajoleries that she knows to be false  except indeed in
that of being utterly sceptical on strictures that she
knows to be true
bathsheba loved troy in the way that only selfreliant
women love when they abandon their selfreliance
when a strong woman recklessly throws away her
strength she is worse than a weak woman who has never
had any strength to throw away one source of her
inadequacy is the novelty of the occasion she has
never had practice in making the best of such a
condition weakness is doubly weak by being new
bathsheba was not conscious of guile in this matter
though in one sense a woman of the world it was after
all that world of daylight coteries and green carpets
wherein cattle form the passing crowd and winds the
busy hum  where a quiet family of rabbits or hares lives
on the other side of your partywall where your neigh
bour is everybody in the tything and where calculation
formulated selfindulgence of bad nothing at all had
her utmost thoughts in this direction been distinctly
worded and by herself they never were they would
only have amounted to such a matter as that she felt
her impulses to be pleasanter guides than her discretion 
her love was entire as a childs and though warm as
summer it was fresh as spring her culpability lay in
her making no attempt to control feeling by subtle and
careful inquiry into consuences she could show others
the steep and thorny way but reckd not her own rede
and troys deformities lay deep down from a
womans vision whilst his embellishments were upon
the verysurface thus contrasting with homely oak
whose defects were patent to the blindest and whose
vertues were as metals in a mine
the difference between love and respect was mark
edly shown in her conduct bathsheba had spoken of
her interest in boldwood with the greatest freedom to
liddy but she had only communed with her own heart
concerning troy
all this infatuation gabriel saw and was troubled
thereby from the time of his daily journey afield to the
time of his return and on to the small hours of many a
night that he was not beloved had hitherto been his
great that bathsheba was getting into the toils
was now a sorrow greater than the first and one which
nearly olbscured it it was a result which paralleled
the oftquoted observation of hippocrates concerning
physical pains
that is a noble though perhaps an unpromising love
particulars of a twillght walk
which not even the fear of breeding aversion in the
bosom of the one beloved can deter from combating his
or her errors oak determined to speak to his mistress
he would base his appeal on what he considered her
unfair treatment of farmer boldwood now absent from
home
an opportunity occurred one evening when she had
gone for a short walk by a path through the neighbour
ing cornfields it was dusk when oak who had not
been far afield that day took the same path and met
her returning quite pensively as he thought
the wheat was now tall and the path was narrow
thus the way was quite a sunken groove between the
embowing thicket on either side two persons could
not walk abreast
without damaging the crop and oak
stood aside to let her pass
oh is it gabriel she said you are taking a
walk too goodnight
i thought i would come to meet you as it is rather
late said oak turning and following at her heels when
she had brushed somewhat quickly by him
thank you indeed but i am not very fearful
 o no  but there are bad characters about
i never meet them
now oak with marvellous ingenuity had been going
to introduce the gallant sergeant through the channel of
bad characters but all at once the scheme broke
down it suddenly occurring to him that this was rather a
clumsy way and too barefaced to begin with he tried
another preamble
and as the man who would naturally come to meet
you is away from home too  i mean farmer boldwood
  why thinks i ill go he said
ah yes she walked on without turning her head
and for many steps nothing further was heard from her
quarter than the rustle of her dress against the heavy
cornears then she resumed rather tartly 
i dont quite understand what you meant by saying
that mr boldwood would naturally come to meet me
i meant on account of the wedding which they say
is likely to take place between you and him miss for
give my speaking plainly
they say what is not true she returned quickly
no marriage is likely to take place between us
gabriel now put forth his unobscured opinion for
the moment had come  well miss everdene he
said putting aside what people say i never in my life
saw any courting if his is not a courting of you
bathsheba would probably have terminated the con
versation there and then by flatly forbidding the subject
had not her conscious weakness of position allured her
to palter and argue in endeavours to better it
since this subject has been mentioned she said
very emphatically i am glad of the opportunity of
clearing up a mistake which is very common and very
provoking i didnt definitely promise mr boldwood
anything i have never cared for him i respect him
and he has urged me to marry him but i have given
him no distinct answer as soon as he returns i shall
do so and the answer will be that i cannot think of
marrying him
people are full of mistakes seemingly
 they are
the other day they said you were trifling with him
and you almost proved that you were not lately they
have said that you be not and you straightway begin
to show    
that i am i suppose you mean
 well i hope they speak the truth
they do but wrongly applied i dont trifle with
him  but then i have nothing to do with him
oak was unfortunately led on to speak of boldwoods
rival in a wrong tone to her after all i wish you had
never met that young sergeant troy miss he sighed
partlculars of a twilight walk
bathshebas steps became faintly spasmodic  why
she asked
 he is not good enough for ee
did any one tell you to speak to me like this 
 nobody at all
then it appears to me that sergeant troy does not
concern us here she said intractably  yet i must say
that sergeant troy is an educated man and quite worthy
of any woman he is well born
his being higher in learning and birth than the
ruck o soldiers is anything but a proof of his worth it
shows his course to be downard
i cannot see what this has to do with our conversa
tion mr troys course is not by any means downward
and his superiority is a proof of his worth  
i believe him to have no conscience at all and i
cannot help begging you miss to have nothing to do
with him listen to me this once  only this once 
i dont say hes such
a bad man as i have fancied  i
pray to god he is not but since we dont exactly
know what he is why not behave as if he might be bad
simply for your own safety  dont trust him mistress
i ask you not to trust him so
 why pray  
i like soldiers but this one i do not like he said
sturdily  his cleverness in his calling may have
tempted him astray and what is mirth to the neighbours
is ruin to the woman when he tries to talk to ee again
why not turn away with a short good day  and when
you see him coming one way turn the other when
he says anything laughable fail to see the point
and dont smile and speak of him before those who will
report your talk as that fantastical man or  that
sergeant whatshisname that man of a family
that has come to the dogs dont be unmannerly
towards en but harmlessuncivil and so get rid of the
man
no christmas robin detained by a windowpane ever
pulsed as did bathsheba now
i say  i say again  that it doesnt become you to
talk about him why he should be mentioned passes
me quite  she exclaimed desperately  i know this
thththat he is a thoroughly conscientious man  blunt
sometimes even to rudeness  but always speaking his
mind about you plain to your face  
oh
he is as good as anybody in this parish he is
very particular too about going to church  yes he
is
i am afraid nobody saw him there i never
did certainly
 the reason of that is she said eagerly  that he goes
in privately by the old tower door just when the service
commences and sits at the back of the gallery he
told me so
this supreme instance of troys goodness fell upon
gabriel ears like the thirteenth stroke of crazy clock
it was not only received with utter incredulity as re
garded itself but threw a doubt on all the assurances
that had preceded it
oak was grieved to find how entirely she trusted him
he brimmed with deep feeling as he replied in a steady
voice the
steadiness of which was spoilt by the palpable
ness of his great effort to keep it so  
 you know mistress that i love you and shall love
you always i only mention this to bring to your mind
that at any rate i would wish to do you no harm 
beyond that i put it aside i have lost in the race for
money and good things and i am not such a fool as to
pretend to ee now i am poor and you have got alto
gether above me but bathsheba dear mistress this
i beg you to consider  that both to keep yourself well
honoured among the workfolk and in common generosity
to an honourable man who loves you as well as i you
particulars of a twilight walk
should be more discreet in your bearing towards this
soldier
 dont dont dont   she exclaimed in a choking
voice
are ye not more to me than my own affairs and
even life   he went on come listen to me i am
six years older than you and mr boldwood is ten years
older than i and consider  i do beg of ee to consider
before it is too late  how safe you would be in his
hands  
oaks allusion to his own love for her lessened to
some extent her anger at his interference  but she
could not really forgive him for letting his wish to marry
her be eclipsed by his wish to do her good any more
than for his slighting treatment of troy
i wish you to go elsewhere she commanded a
paleness of face invisible to the eye being suggested by
the trembling words  do not remain on this farm any
longer i dont want you  i beg you to go 
thats nonsense said oak calmly  this is the
second time you have pretended to dismiss me and
whats the use o it
 pretended  you shall go sir  your lecturing i
will not hear  i am mistress here
 go indeed  what folly will you say next  treating
me like dick tom and harry when you know that a
short time ago my position was as good as yours  upon
my life bathsheba it is too barefaced you know too
that i cant go without putting things in such a strait as
you wouldnt get out of
i cant tell when unless indeed
youll promise to have an understanding man as bailiff
or manager or something ill go at once if youll
promise that
i shall have no bailiff i shall continue to be my
own manager she said decisively
very well then  you should be thankful to me for
biding how would the farm go on with nobody to
mind it but a woman but mind this i dont wish
ee to feel you owe me anything not i what i do
i do sometimes i say i should be as glad as a bird to
leave the place  for dont suppose im content to be a
nobody i was made for better things however i
dont like to see your concerns going to ruin as they
must if you keep in this mind i hate taking my
own measure so plain but upon my life your provok
ing ways make a man say what he wouldnt dream of
at other times  i own to being rather interfering but
you know well enough how it is and who she is that i
like too well and feel too much like a fool about to be
civil to her  
it is more than probable that she privately and un
consciously respected him a little for this grim fidelity
which had been shown in his tone even more than in
his words at any rate she murmured something to the
effect that he might stay if he wished she said more
distinctly  will you leave me alone now i dont
order it as a mistress  i ask it as a woman and i
expect you not to be so uncourteous as to refuse
 certainly i will miss everdene said gabriel gently
he wondered that the request should have come at this
moment for the strife was over and they were on a
most desolate hill far from every human habitation and
the hour was getting late he stood still and allowed
her to get far ahead of him till he could only see her
form upon the sky
a distressing explanation of this anxiety to be rid of
him at that point now ensued a figure apparently rose
from the earth beside her the shape beyond all doubt
was troys oak would not be even a possible listener
and at once turned back till a good two hundred yards
were between the lovers and himself
gabriel went home by way of the churchyard in
passing the tower he thought of what she had said about
the sergeants virtuous habit of entering the church un
particulars of a twilight walk
perceived at the beginning of service believing that
the little gallery door alluded to was quite disused he
ascended the external flight of steps at the top of which
it stood and examined it the pale lustre yet hanging
in the northwestern heaven was sufficient to show that
a sprig of ivy had grown from the wall across the door
to a length of more than a foot delicately tying the
panel to the stone jamb it was a decisive proof that
the door had not been opened at least since troy came
back to weatherbury
hot cheeks and tearful eyes
half an hour later bathsheba entered her own house
there burnt upon her face when she met the light of
the candles the flush and excitement which were little
less than chronic with her now the farewell words of
troy who had accompanied her to the very door still
lingered in her ears he had bidden her adieu for two
days which were so he stated to be spent at bath in
visiting some friends he had also kissed her a second
time
it is only fair to bathsheba to explain here a little
fact which did not come to light till a long time after
wards  that troys presentation of himself so aptly at
the roadside this evening was not by any distinctly pre
concerted arrangement he had hinted  she had
forbidden and it was only on the chance of his still
coming that she had dismissed oak fearing a meeting
between them just then
she now sank down into a chair wild and perturbed
by all these new and fevering sequences then she
jumped up with a manner of decision and fetched her
desk from a side tahle
in three minutes without pause or modification she
had written a letter to boldwood at his address beyond
casterbridge saying mildly but firmly that she had well
hot cheeks and tearful eyes
considered the whole subject he had brought before her
and kindly given her time to decide upon that her
final decision was that she could not marry him she
had expressed to oak an intention to wait till boldwood
came home before communicating to him her conclusive
reply but bathsheba found that she could not wait
it was impossible to send this letter till the next day
yet to quell her uneasiness by getting it out of her hands
and so as it were setting the act in motion at once she
arose to take it to any one of the women who might be
in the kitchen
she paused in the passage a dialogue was going
on in the kitchen and bathsheba and troy were the
subject of it
if he marry her shell gie up farming
twill be a gallant life but may bring some trouble
between the mirth  so say i
well i wish i had half such a husband
bathsheba had too much sense to mind seriously
what her servitors said about her  but too much womanly
redundance of speech to leave alone what was said till
it died the natural death of unminded things she
burst in upon them
who are you speaking of  she asked
there was a pause before anybody replied at last
liddy said frankly  what was passing was a bit of a
word about yourself miss
i thought so  maryann and liddy and temper
ance  now i forbid you to suppose such things you
know i dont care the least for mr troy  not i every
body knows how much i hate him  yes repeated the
froward young person hate him  
 we know you do miss said liddy and so do we
all
 i hate him too said maryann
 maryann  o you perjured woman  how can you
speak that wicked story   said bathsheba excitedly
you admired him from your heart only this morning
in the very world you did yes maryann you know it  
yes miss but so did you he is a wild scamp
now and you are right to hate him
hes not a wild scamp how dare you to my face 
i have no right to hate him nor you nor anybody
but i am a silly woman what is it to me what he is 
you know it is nothing i dont care for him  i dont
mean to defend his good name not i mind this if
any of you say a word against him youll be dismissed
instantly  
she flung down the letter and surged back into the
parlour with a big heart and tearful eyes liddy following
her
o miss said mild liddy looking pitifully into
bathshebas face i am sorry we mistook you so 
did think you cared for him but i see you dont now
 shut the door liddy
liddy closed the door and went on   people always
say such foolery miss ill make answer henceforard
of course a lady like miss everdene cant love him
ill say it out in plain black and white
bathsheba burst out  o liddy are you such a
simpleton  cant you read riddles  cant you see
are you a woman yourself  
liddys clear eyes rounded with wonderment
 yes you must be a blind thing liddy   she said
in reckless abandonment and grief o i love him
to very distraction and misery and agony  dont be
frightened at me though perhaps i am enough to frighten
any innocent woman come closer  closer she put
her arms round liddys neck i must let it out to
somebody it is wearing me away  dont you yet know
enough of me to see through that miserable denial of
mine o god what a lie it was  heaven and my
love forgive me and dont you know that a woman
who loves at all thinks nothing of perjury when it is
hot cheeks and tearful eyes
balanced against her love  there go out of the room 
i want to be quite alone
liddy went towards the door
 liddy come here solemnly swear to me that hes
not a fast man that it is all lies they say about him 
put miss how can i say he is not if    
you graceless girl how can you have the cruel
heart to repeat what they say unfeeling thing that
you are but ill see if you or anybody else in the
village or town either dare do such a thing   she
started off pacing from fireplace to door and back
again
no miss i dont  i know it is not true   said
liddy frightened at bathshebas unwonted vehemence
i suppose you only agree with me like that to please
me but liddy he cannot be had as is said do you
hear 
 yes miss yes
and you dont believe he is
i dont know what to say miss said liddy be
ginning to cry if i say no you dont believe me
and if i say yes you rage at me  
 say you dont believe it  say you dont  
i dont believe him to be so had as they make out
he is not had at all my poor life and heart
how weak i am   she moaned in a relaxed desultory
way heedless of liddys presence o how i wish i
had never seen him loving is misery for women
always i shall never forgive god for making me a
woman and dearly am i beginning to pay for the honour
of owning a pretty face she freshened and turned to
liddy suddenly  mind this lydia smallbury if you
repeat anywhere a single word of what l have said to
you inside this closed door ill never trust you or love
you or have you with me a moment longer  not a
moment  
 i dont want to repeat anything said liddy with
womanly dignity of a diminutive order but i dont
wish to stay with you and if you please ill go at the
end of the harvest or this week or today i dont
see that i deserve to be put upon and stormed at for
nothing   concluded the small woman bigly
 no no liddy  you must stay   said bathsheba
dropping from haughtiness to entreaty with capricious
inconsequence you must not notice my being in a
taking just now you are not as a servant  you are a
companion to me dear dear  i dont know what i
am doing since this miserable ache o my heart has
weighted and worn upon me so  what shall i come
to  i suppose i shall get further and further into
troubles i wonder sometimes if i am doomed to die
in the union i am friendless enough god knows  
i wont notice anything nor will i leave you   sobbed
liddy impulsively putting up her lips to bathshebas
and kissing her
then bathsheba kissed liddy and all was smooth
again
i dont often cry do i lidd  but you have made
tears come into my eyes she said a smile shining
through the moisture try to think him a good man
wont you dear liddy  
i will miss indeed
he is a sort of steady man in a wild way you know
way i am afraid thats how i am and promise me
to keep my secret  do liddy and do not let them
know that i have been crying
about him because it will
be dreadful for me and no good to him poor thing 
deaths head himself shant wring it from me mistress
if ive a mind to keep anything and ill always be your
friend replied liddy emphatically at the same time
bringing a few more tears into her own eyes not from
any particular necessity but from an artistic sense of
making herself in keeping with the remainder of the
hot cheeks and tearful eyes
picture which seems to influence women at such times
i think god likes us to be good friends dont you 
indeed i do
and dear miss you wont harry me and storm at
me will you  because you seem to swell so tall as a
lion then and it frightens me  do you know i fancy
you would be a match for any man when you are in one
 your takings
never do you   said bathsheba slightly laughing
though somewhat seriously alarmed by this amazonian
picture of herself i hope i am not a bold sort of
maid  mannish   she continued with some anxiety
o no not mannish but so almighty womanish
that tis getting on that way sometimes ah  miss she
said after having drawn her breath very sadly in and
sent it very sadly out i wish i had half your failing
that way tis a great protection to a poor maid in
these illegitmate days  
blame  fury
the next evening bathsheba with the idea of getting
out of the way of mr boldwood in the event of his
returning to answer her note in person proceeded to
fulfil an engagement made with liddy some few hours
earlier bathshebas companion as a gage of their
reconciliation had heen granted a weeks holiday to
visit her sister who was married to a thriving hurdler
and cattlecribmaker living in a delightful labyrinth of
hazel copse not far beyond yalbury the arrangement
was that miss everdene should honour them by coming
there for a day or two to inspect some ingenious con
tnvances which this man of the woods had introduced
into his wares
leaving her instructions with gabriel and maryann
that they were to see everything carefully locked up for
the night she went out of the house just at the close of
a timely thundershower which had refined the air and
daintily bathed the coat of the land though all beneath
was dry as ever freshness was exhaled in an essence
from the varied contours of bank and hollow as if the
earth breathed maiden breath and the pleased birds
were hymning to the scene before her among the
clouds there was a contrast in the shape of lairs of
fierce light which showed themselves in the neighbour
hood of a hidden sun lingering on to the farthest north
west corner of the heavens that this midsummer season
allowed
she had walked nearly two miles of her journey
watching how the day was retreating and thinking how
the time of deeds was quietly melting into the time of
thought to give place in its turn to the time of prayer
and sleep when she beheld advancing over yalbury hill
the very man she sought so anxiously to elude boldwood
was stepping on not with that quiet tread of reserved
strength which was his customary
gait in which he
always seemed to be balancing two thoughts his
manner was stunned and sluggish now
boldwood had for the first time been awakened to
womans privileges in tergiversation even when it involves
another persons possible blight that bathsheba was
a firm and positive girl far less inconsequent than her
fellows had been the very lung of his hope  for he had
held that these qualities would lead her to adhere to a
straight course for consistencys sake and accept him
though her fancy might not flood him with the iridescent
hues of uncritical love but the argument now came
back as sorry gleams from a broken mirror the dis
covery was no less a scourge than a surprise
he came on looking upon the ground and did not
see bathsheba till they were less than a stones throw
apart he looked up at the sound of her pitpat and
his changed appearance sufficiently denoted to her the
depth and strength of the feelings paralyzed by her
letter
 oh  is it you mr boldwood   she faltered a guilty
warmth pulsing in her face
those who have the power of reproaching in silence
may find it a means more effective than words there
are accents in the eye which are not on the tongue and
more tales come from pale lips than can enter an ear
it is both the grandeur and the pain of the remoter
moods that they avoid the pathway of sound bold
woods look was unanswerable
seeing she turned a little aside he said what are
you afraid of me
 why should you say that   said bathsheba
i fancied you looked so said he and it is most
strange because of its contrast with my feeling for you
she regained selfpossession fixed her eyes calmly
and waited
 you know what that feeling is continued boldwood
deliberately a thing strong as death no dismissal
by a hasty letter affects that
i wish you did not feel so strongly about me she
murmured it is generous of you and more than i
deserve but i must not hear it now
hear it what do you think i have to say then 
i am not to marry you and thats enough your letter
was excellently plain i want you to hear nothing 
not i
bathsheba was unable to direct her will into any
definite groove for freeing herself from this fearfully
and was moving on boldwood walked up to her heavily
and dully
bathsheba  darling  is it final indeed
indeed it is
o bathsheba  have pity upon me boldwood
burst out gods sake yes  i am come to that low
lowest stage  to ask a woman for pity still she is
you  she is you
bathsheba commanded herself well but she could
hardly get a clear voice for what came instinctively to
her lips there is little honour to the woman in that
speech it was only whispered for something unutter
ably mournful no less than distressing in this spectacle
of a man showing himself to be so entirely the vane of a
passion enervated the feminine instinct for punctilios
blame
i am beyond myself about this and am mad he
said i am no stoic at all to he supplicating here  but
i do supplicate to you i wish you knew what is in
me of devotion to you  but it is impossible that in
bare human mercy to a lonely man dont throw me off
now 
i dont throw you off  indeed how can i  i never
had you in her noonclear sense that she had never
loved him she forgot for a moment her thoughtless angle
on that day in february
but there was a time when you turned to me
before i thought of you  i dont reproach you for
even now i feel that the ignorant and cold darkness
that i should have lived in if you had not attracted me
by that letter  valentine you call it  would have becn
worse than my knowledge of you though it has brought
this misery but i say there was a time when i knew
nothing of you and cared nothing for you and yet you
drew me on and if you say you gave me no en
couragement i cannot but contradict you
what you call encouragement was the childish
game of an idle minute i have bitterly repented of it
  ay bitterly and in tears can you still go on re
minding me 
i dont accuse you of it  i deplore it i took for
earnest what you insist was jest and now this that i
pray to be jest you say is awful wretched earnest our
moods meet at wrong places i wish your feeling was
more like mine or my feeling more like yours o
could i but have foreseen the torture that trifling trick
was going to lead me into how i should have cursed
you  but only having been able to see it since i cannot
do that for i love you too well but it is weak idle
drivelling to go on like this bathsheba you are
the first woman of any shade or nature that i have ever
looked at to love and it is the having been so near
claiming you for my own that makes this denial so hard
to bear how nearly you promised me  but i dont
speak now to move your heart and make you grieve
because of my pain  it is no use that i must bear it
my pain would get no less by paining you
but i do pity you  deeply  o so deeply  she
earnestly said
do no such thing  do no such thing your dear
love bathsheba is such a vast thing beside your pity
that the loss of your pity as well as your love is no great
addition to my sorrow nor does the gain of your pity
make it sensibly less o sweet  how dearly you
spoke to me behind the spearbed at the washingpool
and in the barn at the shearing and that dearest last
time in the evening at your home where are your
pleasant words all gone  your earnest hope to be able
to love me where is your firm conviction that you
would get to care for me very much  really forgotten 
  really  
she checked emotion looked him quietly and clearly
in the face and said in her low firm voice  mr bold
wood i promised you nothing would you have had
me a woman of clay when you paid me that furthest
highest compliment a man can pay a woman  telling
her he loves her i was bound to show some feeling
if l would not be a graceless shrew yet each of those
pleasures was just for the day  the day just for the
pleasure how was i to know that what is a pastime
to all other men was death to you  have reason do
and think more kindly of me 
well never mind arguing  never mind one
thing is sure you were all but mine and now you are
not nearly mine everything is changed and that by
you alone remember you were nothing to me once
and i was contented you are now nothing to me again
and how different the second nothing is from the first 
would to god you had never taken me up since it was
only to throw me down  
fury
bathsheba in spite of her mettle began to feel un
mistakable signs that she was inherently the weaker
vessel she strove miserably against this feminity
which would insist upon supplying unbidden emotions
in stronger and stronger current she had tried to
elude agitation by fixing her mind on the trees sky any
trivial object before her eyes whilst his reproaches fell
but ingenuity could not save her now
i did not take you up  surely i did not she
answered as heroically as she could  but dont be in
this mood with me i can endure being told i am in
the wrong if you will only tell it me gently o sir
will you not kindly forgive me and look at it
cheerfully  
cheerfully can a man fooled to utter heart
burning find a reason for being merry if i have lost
how can i be as if i had won heavens you must be
heartless quite  had i known what a fearfully bitter
sweet this was to be how would i have avoided you
and never seen you and been deaf of you i tell you
all this but what do you care you dont care
she returned silent and weak denials to his charges
and swayed her head desperately as if to thrust away
the words as they came showering ahout her ears from
the lips of the trembling man in the climax of life with
his bronzed roman face and fine frame
dearest dearest i am wavering even now between
the two opposites of recklessly renouncing you and
labouring humbly for you again forget that you have
said no and let it be as it was  say bathsheba that
you only wrote that refusal to me in fun  come say it
to me
 it would be untrue and painful to both of us you
overrate my capacity for love i dont possess half
the warmth of nature you believe me to have an un
protected childhood in a cold world has beaten gentle
ness out of me
he immediately said with more resentment that
may be true somewhat  but ah miss everdene it wont
do as a reason you are not the cold woman you
would have me believe no no  it isnt because you
have no feeling in you that you dont love me you
naturally would have me think so  you would hide from
that you have a burning heart like mine you have
love enough but it is turned into a new channel i
know where
the swift music of her heart became hubbub now
and she throbbed to extremity he was coming to
troy he did then know what had occurred  and
the name fell from his lips the next moment
why did troy not leave my treasure alone he
asked fiercely when i had no thought of injuring
him why did he force himself upon your notice
before he worried you your inclination was to have me
when next i should have come to you your answer
would have been yes can you deny it  i ask can
you deny it
she delayed the reply but was to honest to with
hold it  i cannot she whispered
i know you cannot but he stole in in my absence
and robbed me why didt he win you away before
when nobody would have been grieved  when nobody
would have been set talebearing now the people
sneer at me  the very hills and sky seem to laugh at
me till i blush shamefuly for my folly i have lost my
respect my good name my standing  lost it never to
get it again go and marry your man  go on  
o sir  mr boldwood
 you may as well i have no further claim upon you
as for me i had better go somewhere alone and hide 
and pray i loved a woman once i am now ashamed
when i am dead theyll say miserable lovesick man
that he was heaven  heaven  if i had got jilted
secretly and the dishonour not known and my position
fury
kept but no matter it is
gone and the woman not
gained shame upon him  shame  
his unreasonable anger terrified her and she glided
from him without obviously moving as she said i am
only a girl  do not speak to me so
all the time you knew  how very well you knew 
that your new freak was my misery dazzled by brass
and scarlet  o bathsheba  this is womans folly
indeed  
she fired up at once you are taking too much
upon yourself   she said veheniently  everybody is
upon me   everybody it is unmanly to attack a
woman so  i have nobody in the world to fight my
battles for me but no mercy is shown yet if a
thousand of you sneer and say things against me i will
 youll chatter with him doubtless about me say to
him boldwood would have died for me yes and
you have given way to him knowing him to be not the
man for you he has kissed you  claimed you as his
do you hear  he has kissed you deny it  
the most tragic woman is cowed by a tragic man
and although boldwood was in vehemence and glow
nearly her own self rendered into another sex
bathshebas cheek quivered she gasped  leave me
sir  leave me  i am nothing to you let me go on 
deny that he has kissed you
i shall not
 ha  then he has   came hoarsely from the farmer
he has she said slowly and in spite of her fear
defiantly i am not ashamed to speak the truth
then curse him and curse him   said boldwood
breaking into a whispered fury  whilst i would have
given worlds to touch your hand you have let a rake come
in without right or ceremony and  kiss you  heavens
mercy  kiss you   ah a time of his life shall come
when he will have to repent and think wretchedly of
the pain he has caused another man  and then may he
ache and wish and curse and yearn  as i do now  
dont dont o dont pray down evil upon him 
she
implored in a miserable cry anything but that 
anything o be kind to him sir for i love him true 
boldwoods ideas had reached that point of fusion at
which outline and consistency entirely disappear the
impending night appeared to concentrate in his eye
he did not hear her at all now
ill punish him  by my soul that will i ill meet
him soldier or no and ill horsewhip the untimely
stripling for this reckless theft of my one delight if he
were a hundred men id horsewhip him     he
dropped his voice suddenly and unnaturally bath
sheba sweet lost coquette pardon me  ive been
blaming you threatening you behaving like a churl to
you when hes the greatest sinner he stole your dear
heart away with his unfathomable lies  lt is a
fortunate thing for him that hes gone back to his
regiment  that hes away up the country and not here
i hope he may not return here just yet i pray god
he may not come into my sight for i may be tempted
beyond myself o bathsheba keep him away  yes
keep him away from me
for a moment boldwood stood so inertly after this
that his soul seemed to have been entirely exhaled with
the breath of his passionate words he turned his face
away and withdrew and his form was soon covered over
by the twilight as his footsteps mixed in with the low
hiss of the leafy trees
bathsheba who had been standing motionless as a
model all this latter time flung her hands to her face
and wildly attempted to ponder on the exhibition which
had just passed away such astounding wells of fevered
feeling in a still man like mr boldwood were incompre
hensible dreadful instead of being a man trained to
repression he was  what she had seen him
the force of the farmers threats lay in their relation to a
circumstance known at present only to herself her lover was
coming back to weatherby in the course of the very next
day or two troy had not returned to his distant barracks as
boldwood and others supposed but had merely gone to visit
some acquaintance in bath and had yet a wek or more
remaining to his furlough
 she felt wretchedly certain that if he revisited her just at
this nick of time and came into contact with boldwooda
fierce quarrel would be the consequence she panted with
solicitude when she thought of possible injury to troy the
least spark would kindle the farmers swift feelings of rage
and jealousy he would lose his selfmastery as he had this
evening troys blitheness might become aggressive it might
take the direction of derision and boldwoods anger might
then take the direction of revenge
 with almost a morbid dread of being thought a gushing
girl this guideless woman too well concealed from the world
under a manner of carelessness the warm depths of her strong
emotions but now there was no reserve in fer
 
her distractioninstead of advancing further she
walked up and downbeating
the air with her fingerspressing on her brow and sobbing
brokenly to herself then she sat down on a heap of stones by
the wayside to think there she remained long above the
dark margin of the earth appeared foreshores and promontor
ies of coppery cloudbounding a green and pellucid expanse
in the western sky amaranthine glosses came over them then
and the unresting world wheeled her round to a contrasting
prospect eastward in the shape of indecisive and palpitating
stars she gazed upon their silent throes amid the shades of
space but realised none at all her troubled spirit was far
away with troy
night  horses tramping
the village of weatherbury was quiet as the graveyard
in its midst and the living were lying welinigh as still
as the dead the church clock struck eleven the
air was so empty of other sounds that the whirr of the
clockwork immediately before the strokes was distinct
and so was also the click of the same at their close
the notes flew forth with the usual blind obtuseness
of inanimate things  flapping and rebounding among
walls undulating against the scattered clouds spreading
through their interstices into unexplored miles of space
bathshebas crannied and mouldy halls were tonight
occupied only by maryann liddy being as was stated
with her sister whom bathsheba had set out to visit
a few minutes after eleven had struck maryann turned
in her bed with a sense of being disturbed she was
totally unconscious of the nature of the interruption to
her sleep it led to a dream and the dream to an
awakening with an uneasy sensation that something
had happened she left her bed and looked out of
the window the paddock abutted on this end of the
building and in the paddock she could just discern by
the uncertain gray a moving figure approaching the
horse that was feeding there the figure seized the
horse by the forelock and led it to the corner of the
field here she could see some object which circum
stances proved to be a vehicle for after a few minutes
the horse down the road mingled with the sound of
light wheels
two varieties only of humanity could have entered
the paddock with the ghostiike glide of that mysterious
figure they were a woman and a gipsy man a woman
was out of the question in such an occupation at this
hour and the comer could be no less than a thief who
might probably have known the weakness of the house
hold on this particular night and have
chosen it on
that account for his daring attempt moreover to
raise suspicion to conviction itself there were gipsies in 
weatherbury bottom
maryann who had been afraid to shout in the robbers
presence having seen him depart had no fear she
hastily slipped on her clothes stumped down the dis
jointed staircase with its hundred creaks ran to coggans
the nearest house and raised an alarm coggan called
gabriel who now again lodged in his house as at first
and together they went to the paddock beyond all
doubt the horse was gone
 hark   said gabriel
they listened distinct upon the stagnant air came
the sounds of a trotting horse passing up longpuddle
lane  just beyond the gipsies encampment in weather
bury bottom
 thats our daintyill swear to her step said jan
 mighty me  wont misess storm and call us stupids
wen she comes back   moaned maryann how i
wish it had happened when she was at home and none
of us had been answerable  
 we must ride after said gabriel decisively
be responsible to miss everdene for what we do yes
well follow 
 faith i dont see how said coggan  all our
horses are too heavy for that trick except little poppet
and whats she between two of usif we only had that
 pair over the hedge we might do something
which pair  
mr boldwoods tidy and moll
 then wait here till i come hither again said gabriel
he ran down the hill towards farmer boldwoods
 farmer boldwood is not at home said maryann
all the better said coggan i know what hes
gone for
less than five minutes brought up oak again running
at the same pace with two halters dangling from his hand
where did you find em  said coggan turning
round and leaping upon the hedge without waiting for
an answer
under the eaves i knew where they were kept
said gabriel following him coggan you can ride
barebacked  theres no time to look for saddles
 like a hero   said jan
maryann you go to hed gabriel shouted to her
from the top of the hedge
springing down into boldwoods pastures each
pocketed his halter to hide it from the horses who
seeing the men emptyhanded docilely allowed them
selves to he seized by the mane when the halters
were dexterously slipped on having neither bit nor
bridle oak and coggan extemporized the former by
passing the rope in each case through the animals
mouth and looping it on the other side oak vaulted
astride and coggan clambered up by aid of the hank
when they ascended to the gate and galloped off in the
direction taken by bathshehas horse and the robber
whose vehicle the horse had been harnessed to was a
matter of some uncertainty
weatherbury bottom was reached in three or four
minutes they scanned the shady green patch by the
roadside the gipsies were gone
the villains   said gabriel which way have they
gone i wonder  
straight on as sure as god made little apples
said jan
 very well we are better mounted and must over
discovered the roadmetal grew softer and more
rain had wetted its surface to a somewhat plastic but
not muddy state they came to crossroads coggan
suddenly pulled up moll and slipped off
 whats the matter   said gabriel
we must try to track em since we cant hear em
said jan fumbling in his pockets he struck a light
and held the match to the ground the rain had been
heavier here and all foot and horse tracks made previous
to the storm had been abraded and blurred by the drops
and they were now so many little scoops of water which
reflected the flame of the match like eyes one set of
tracks was fresh and had no water in them one pair of
ruts was also empty and not small canals like the cthers
the footprints forming this recent impression were full
of information as to pace  they were in equidistant pairs
three or four feet apart the right and left foot of each
pair being exactly opposite one another
straight on   jan exclaimed tracks like that
mean a stiff gallop no wonder we dont hear him
and the horse is harnessediook at the ruts ay
how do you know 
old jimmy harris only shoed her last week and
id swear to his make among ten thousand
the rest of the gipsies must ha gone on earlier
or some other way said oak  you saw there were
no other tracks  
true they rode along silently for a long weary
time coggan carried an old pinchbeck repeater which
he had inherited from some genius in his family and
it now struck one he lighted another match and ex
amined the ground again
tis a canter now he said throwing away the light
a twisty rickety pace for a gig the fact is they over
drove her at starting  we shall catch em yet
again they hastened on and entered blackmore
vale coggans watch struck one when they looked
again the hoofmarks were so spaced as to form a sort
of zigzag if united like the lamps along a street
 thats a trot i know said gabriel
only a trot now said coggan cheerfully we
shall overtake him in time
they pushed rapidly on for yet two or three miles
ah  a moment said jan lets see how she was
driven up this hill twill help us a light was
promptly struck upon his gaiters as before and the ex
amination made
 hurrah   said coggan she walked up here 
and well she might we shall get them in two miles
for a crown
they rode three and listened no sound was to be
heard save a milipond trickling hoarsely through a
hatch and suggesting gloomy possibilities of drowning
by juraping in gabriel dismounted when they came
to a turning the tracks were ahsolutely the only guide
as to the direction that they now had and great caution
was necessary to avoid confusing them
with some others
which had made their appearance lately
what does this mean   though i guess said
gabriel looking up at coggan as he moved the match
over the ground about the turning coggan who no
less than the panting horses had latterly shown signs
of weariness again scrutinized the mystic characters
this time only three were of the regular horseshoe
shape every fourth was a dot
horses tramping
he screwed up his face and emitted a long
 whewww  
 lame said oak
 yes dainty is lamed  the nearfootafore said
coggan slowly staring still at the footprints
 well push on said gabriel remounting his humid
steed
although the road along its greater part had been as
good as any turnpikeroad in the country it was nomin
ally only a byway the last turning had brought them
into the high road leading to bath coggan recollected
himself
we shall have him now   he exclaimed
 where  
 sherton turnpike the keeper of that gate is the
sleepiest man between here and london  dan randall
thats his name  knowed en for years when he was at
casterbridge gate between the lameness and the gate
tis a done job
was said until against a shady background of foliage
five white bars were visible crossing their route a little
way ahead
 hush  we are almost close   said gabriel
amble on upon the grass said coggan
the white bars were blotted out in the midst by a
dark shape in front of them the silence of this lonely
time was pierced by an exclamation from that quarter
 hoyahoy  gate  
it appeared that there had been a previous call which
they had not noticed for on their close approach the
door of the turnpikehouse opened and the keeper
came out halfdressed with a candle in his hand the
rays illumined the whole group
 keep the gate close   shouted gabriel  he has
stolen the horse  
 who   said the turnpikeman
gabriel looked at the driver of the gig and saw a
woman  bathsheba his mistress
on hearing his voice she had turned her face away
from the light coggan had however caught sight of
her in the meanwhile
why tis mistressill take my oath   he said
amazed
bathsheba it certainly was and she had by this time
done the trick she could do so well in crises not of love
namely mask a surprise by coolness of manner
 well gabriel she inquired quietly  where are you
going  
 we thought     began gabriel
bath she said taking for her own
use the assurance that gahriel lacked an important
matter made it necessary for me to give up my visit to
liddy and go off at once what then were you
following me 
 we thought the horse was stole
 weliwhat a thing  how very foolish of you not
to know that i had taken the trap and horse i could
neither wake maryann nor get into the house though
i hammered for ten minutes against her windowsill
fortunately i could get the key of the coachhouse so
i troubled no one further didnt you think it might
be me
 why should we miss  
 perhaps not why those are never farmer bold
woods horses  goodness mercy  what have you been
 doing bringing trouble upon me in this way what
mustnt a lady move an inch from her door without being
dogged like a thief
but how was we to know if you left no account of
your doings   expostulated coggan and ladies dont
 drive at these hours miss as a jineral rule of society
i did leave an account  and you would have seen
it in the morning i wrote in chalk on the coachhouse
doors that i had come back for the horse and gig and
driven off that i could arouse nobody and should
return soon
 but youll consider maam that we couldnt see
that till it got daylight
true she said and though vexed at first she had
too much
sense to blame them long or seriously for a
devotion to her that was as valuable as it was rare
she added with a very pretty grace  well i really thank
you heartily for taking all this trouble but i wish you
had borrowed anybodys horses but mr boldwoods
dainty is lame miss said coggan can ye go
on
lt was only a stone in her shoe i got down and
pulled it out a hundred yards back i can manage
very well thank you i shall be in bath by daylight
will you now return please
she turned her head  the gatemans candle
shimmering upon her quick clear eyes as she did so 
passed through the gate and was soon wrapped in the
embowering shades of mysterious summer boughs
coggan and gabriel put about their horses and fanned
by the velvety air of this july night retraced the road
by which they had come
a strange vagary this of hers isnt it oak said
coggan curiously
yes said gabriel shortly
she wont be in bath by no daylight
coggan suppose we keep this nights work as quiet
as we can
i am of one and the same mind
very well we shall be home by three oclock or
so and can creep into the parish like lambs
bathshebas perturbed meditations by the roadside
had ultimately evolved a conclusion that there were only
two remedies for the present desperate state of affairs
the first was merely to keep troy away from weather
bury till boldwoods indignation had cooled the second
to listen to oaks entreaties and boldwoods denuncia
tions and give up troy altogether
alas could she give up this new love  induce
him to renounce her by saying she did not like him 
could no more speak to him and beg him for her good
to end his furlough in bath and see her and weather
bury no niore
it was a picture full of misery but for a while she
contemplated it firmly allowing herself nevertheless
as girls will to
dwell upon the happy life she would
have enjoyed had troy been boldwood and the path
of love the path of duty  inflicting upon herself gratuit
ous tortures by imagining him the lover of another
woman after forgetting her for she had penetrated
troys nature so far as to estimate his tendencies pretty
accurately hut unfortunately loved him no less in
thinking that he might soon cease to love her  indeed
considerably more
she jumped to her feet she would see him at once
yes she would implore him by word of mouth to assist
her in this dilemma a letter to keep him away could
not reach him in time even if he should be disposed to
listen to it
was bathsheba altogether blind to the obvious fact
that the support of a lovers arms is not of a kind best
calculated to assist a resolve to renounce him or was
she sophistically sensible with a thrill of pleasure that
by adopting this course for getting rid of him she was
ensuring a meeting with him at any rate once more
it was now dark and the hour must have been nearly
ten the only way to accomplish her purpose was to
give up her idea of visiting liddy at yalbury return to
weatherbury farm put the horse into the gig and drive
at once to bath the scheme seemed at first impossible 
the journey was a fearfully heavy one even for a strong
horse at her own estimate and she much underrated
the distance it was most venturesome for a woman
at night and alone
but could she go on to liddys and leave things to
take their course no no anything but that bath
sheba was full of a stimulating turbulence beside which
caution vainly prayed for a hearing she turned back
towards the village
her walk was slow for she wished not to enter
weatherbury till the cottagers were in bed and par
ticularly till boldwood was secure her plan was now
to drive to bath during the night see sergeant troy in
the morning before he set out to come to her bid him
farewell and dismiss him then to rest the horse
thoroughly herself to weep the while she thought
starting early the next morning on her return journey
by this arrangement she could trot dainty gently all
the day reach
liddy at yalbury in the evening and
come home to weatherbury with her whenever they
chose  so nobody would know she had been to bath
at all
such was bathshebas scheme but in her topo
graphical ignorance as a late comer to the place slie
misreckoned the distance of her journey as not much
more than half what it really was her idea however
she proceeded to carry out with what initial success we
have already seen
in the sun  a harbinger
a week passed and there were no tidings of bath
sheba nor was there any explanation of her gilpins
rig
then a note came for maryann stating that the
business which had called her mistress to bath still
detained her there but that she hoped to return
in the course of another week
another week passed the oatharvest began and
all the men were afield under a monochromatic lammas
sky amid the trembling air and short shadows of noon
indoors nothing was to be heard save the droning of
bluebottle flies outofdoors the whetting of scythes
and the hiss of tressy oatears rubbing together as their
perpendicular stalks of amberyellow fell heavily to each
swath every drop of moisture not in the mens bottles
and flagons in the form of cider was raining as perspira
tion from their foreheads and cheeks drought was
everywhere else
they were about to withdraw for a while into the
charitable shade of a tree in the fence when coggan
saw a figure in a blue coat and brass buttons running
to them across the field
i wonder who that is he said
i hope nothing is wrong about mistress said
maryann who with some other women was tying the
bundles oats being always sheafed on this farm but
an unlucky token came to me indoors this morning
l went to unlock the door and dropped the key and it
fell upon the stone floor and broke into two pieces
breaking a key is a dreadful bodement i wish misess
was home
tis cain ball said gabriel pausing from whetting
his reaphook
oak was not bound by his agreement to assist in the
cornfield but the harvest month is an anxious time for
a farmer and the corn was bathshebas so he lent a
hand
hes dressed up in his best clothes said matthew
moon he hev been away from home for a few days
since hes had that felon upon his finger for a said
since i cant work ill have a hollerday
  a good time for one  a excellent time said joseph
poorgrass straightening his back for he like some of
the others had a way of resting a while from his labour
on such hot days for reasons preternaturally small of
which cain palls advent on a weekday in his sunday
clothes was one of the first magnitude twas a bad leg
allowed me to read the pilgrims progress and mark
clark learnt alifours in a whitlow
ay and my father put his arm out of joint to have
time to go courting said jan coggan in an eclipsing
tone wiping his face with his shirtsleeve and thrusting
back his hat upon the nape of his neck
by this time cainy was nearing the group of harvesters
and was perceived to be carrying a large slice of bread
and ham in one hand from which he took mouthfuls
as he ran the other being wrapped in a bandage
when he came close his mouth assumed the bell shape
and he began to cough violently
   now cainy said gabriel sternly  how many
more times must i tell you to keep from running so fast
when you be eating youll choke yourself some day
thats what youll do cain ball
 hokhokhok  replied cain a crumb of my
victuals went the wrong way  hokhok thats what
tis mister oak and ive been visiting to bath
because i had a felon on my thumb yes and lve
seen  ahokhok
directly cain mentioned bath they all threw down
their hooks and forks and drew round him un
fortunately the erratic crumb did not improve his
narrative powers and a supplementary hindrance was
that of a sneeze jerking from his pocket his rather large
watch which dangled in front of the young man
pendulumwise
 yes he continued directing his thoughts to bath
and letting his eyes follow lve seed the world at last
  yes  and ive seed our misess  ahokhokhok  
 bother the boy  said gabriel  something is
always going the wrong way down your throat so that
you cant tell whats necessary to be told
ahok  there  please mister oak a gnat have
just fleed into my stomach and brought the cough on
again  
yes thats just it your mouth is always open you
young rascal  
tis terrible bad to have a gnat fly down yer throat
pore boy   said matthew moon
 well at bath you saw     prompted gabriel
i saw our mistress continued the junior shepherd
and a sojer walking along and bymeby they got
closer and closer and then they went armincrook like
courting complete  hokhok  like courting complete 
hok   courting complete     losing the thread of his
narrative at this point simultaneously with his loss of
breath their informant looked up and down the field
apparently for some clue to it well i see our misess
and a soldier  ahaawk  
a harblnger
damn the boy  said gabriel
tis only my manner mister oak if yell excuse it
said cain ball looking reproachfully at oak with eyes
drenched in their own dew
heres some cider for him  thatll cure his throat
said jan coggan lifting a flagon of cider pulling out
the cork and applying the hole to cainys mouth
joseph poorgrass in the meantime beginning to think
apprehensively of the serious consequences that would
follow cainy balls strangulation in his cough and the
history of his bath adventures dying with him
for my poor self i always say please god  afore
i do anything said joseph in an unboastful voice   and
so should you cain ball tis a great safeguard and
might perhaps save you from being choked to death
some day
mr coggan poured the liquor with unstinted liber
ality at the suffering cains circular mouth half of it
running down the
side of the flagon and half of what
reached his mouth running down outside his throat
and half of what ran in going the wrong way and being
coughed and sneezed around the persons of the gathered
reapers in the form of a cider fog which for a moment
hung in the sunny air like a small exhalation
theres a great clumsy sneeze  why cant ye have
better manners you young dog   said coggan with
drawing the flagon
the cider went up my nose   cried cainy as soon
as he could speak and now tis gone down my neck
and into my poor dumb felon and over my shiny
buttons and all my best cloze  
the poor lads cough is terrible onfortunate said
matthew moon and a great history on hand too
bump his back shepherd
tis my nater mourned cain mother says i
always was so excitable when my feelings were worked
up to a point
 true true said joseph poorgrass the balls
were always a very excitable family i knowed the
boys grandfather  a truly nervous and modest man
even to genteel refinery twas blush blush with him
almost as much as tis with me  not but that tis a
fault in me 
not at all master poorgrass said coggan  tis
a very noble quality in ye
hehheh  well i wish to noise nothing abroad 
nothing at all murmured poorgrass diffidently  but
we be born to things  thats true yet i would rather
my trifle were hid  though perhaps a high nater is a
little high and at my birth all things were possible to
my maker and he may have begrudged no gifts
but under your bushel joseph  under your bushel with
ee  a strange desire neighbours this desire to hide
and no praise due yet there is a sermon on the
mount with a calendar of the blessed at the head and
certain meek men may be named therein
cainys grandfather was a very clever man said
matthew moon invented a appletree out of his own
head which is called by his name to this day  the early
ball you know em
jan  a quarrenden grafted on
a tom putt and a ratheripe upon top o that again
tis trew a used to bide about in a publichouse wi a
ooman in a way he had no business to by rights but
there  a were a clever man in the sense of the term
 now then said gabriel impatiently  what did you
see cain  
i seed our misess go into a sort of a park place
where theres seats and shrubs and flowers armincrook
with a sojer continued cainy firmly and with a dim
sense that his words were very effective as regarded
gabriels emotions and i think the sojer was
sergeant troy and they sat there together for more
than halfanhour talking moving things and she once
was crying amost to death and when they came out
her eyes were shining and she was as white as a lily
and they looked into one anothers faces as fargone
friendly as a man and woman can be
gabriels features seemed to get thinner  well
what did you see besides  
 oh all sorts
white as a lily you are sure twas she
 yes
 well what besides  
great glass windows to the shops and great clouds
in the sky full of rain and old wooden trees in the
country round
 you stunpoll what will ye say next said
coggan
 let en alone interposed joseph poorgrass the
boys maning is that the sky and the earth in the
kingdom of bath is not altogether different from ours
here tis for our good to gain knowledge of strange
cities and as such the boys words should be suffered
so to speak it
 and the people of bath continued cain never
need to light their fires except as a luxury for the
water springs up out of the earth ready boiled for
use
 tis true as the light testified matthew moon  ive
heard other navigators say the same thing
 they drink nothing else there said cain  and seem
to enjoy it to see how they swaller it down
well it seems a barbarian practice enough to us
but i daresay the natives think nothing o it said
matthew
and dont victuals spring up as well as drink
asked coggan twirling his eye
noi own to a blot there in bath  a true blot
god didnt proride em with victuals as well as 
and twas a drawback i couldnt get over at all
 well tis a curious place to say the least observed
moon and it must be a curious people that live
therein 
miss everdene and the soldier were walking about
together you say   said gabriel returning to the
group
ay and she wore a beautiful goldcolour silk
gown trimmed with black lace that would have stood
alone ithout legs inside if required twas a very
winsome sight and her hair was brushed splendid
and when the sun shone upon the bright gown and his
red coat  my  how handsome they looked you
could see em all the length of the street
 and what then   murmured gabriel
and then i went into griffins to hae my boots
hobbed and then i went to riggss battycake shop
and asked em for a penneth of the cheapest and nicest
stales that were all but bluemouldy but not quite
and whilst i was chawing em down i walked on and
seed a clock with a face as big as a baking trendle    
but thats nothing to do with mistress  
im coming to that if youll leave me alone mister
oak   remonstrated cainy if you excites me
perhaps youll bring on my cough and then i shant be
able to tell ye nothing
 yesiet him tell it his own way said coggan
gabriel settled into a despairing attitude of patience
and cainy went on  
and there were great large houses and more
people all the week long than at weatherbury club
walking on white tuesdays and i went to grand
churches and chapels and how the parson would pray 
yes he would kneel down and put up his hands
together and make the holy gold rings on his fingers
gleam and twinkle in yer eyes that hed earned
by praying so excellent well   ah yes i wish i lived
there
our poor parson thirdly cant get no money to
buy such rings said  matthew moon thoughtfully
and as good a man as ever walked i dont believe
poor thirdly have a single one even of humblest tin or
copper such a great ornament as theyd be to him on
a dull aternoon when hes up in the pulpit lighted by
the wax candles  but tis impossible poor man ah
to think how unequal things be
perhaps hes made of different stuff than to wear
em said gabriel grimly  well thats enough of this
go on cainy  quick
 oh  and the new style of pasons wear moustaches
and long beards continued the illustrious traveller
and look like moses and aaron complete and make
we fokes in the congregation feel all over like the
children of israel
a very right feeling  very said joseph poorgrass
and theres two religions going on in the nation
now  high church and high chapel and thinks i
ill play fair so i went to high church in the morning
and high chapel in the afternoon
 a right and proper boy said joseph poorgrass
well at high church they pray singing and worship
all the colours of the rainbow and at high chapel they
pray preaching and worship drab and whitewash only
and theni didnt see no more of miss everdene at
all
why didnt you say so afore then   exclaimed oak
with much disappointment
 ah said matthew moon shell wish her cake
dough if so be shes over intimate with that man
shes not over intimate with him said gabriel
indignantly
she would know better said coggan our
misess has too much sense under they knots of black
hair to do such a mad thing
you see hes not a coarse ignorant man for he
was well brought up said matthew dubiously  twas
only wildness that made him a soldier and maids rather
like your man of sin
now cain ball said gabriel restlessly can you
swear in the most
awful form that the woman you saw
was miss everdene  
cain ball you be no longer a babe and suckling
said joseph in the sepulchral tone the circumstances
demanded and you know what taking an oath is
tis a horrible testament mind ye which you say and
seal with your bloodstone and the prophet matthew
tells us that on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind
him to powder now before all the workfolk here
assembled can you swear to your words as the shep
herd asks ye 
 please no mister oak   said cainy looking from
one to the other with great uneasiness at the spiritual
magnitude of the position i dont mind saying tis
true but i dont like to say tis damn true if thats
what you mane
cain cain how can you   asked joseph sternly
you be asked to swear in a holy manner and you
swear like wicked shimei the son of gera who cursed
as he came young man fie  
no i dont  tis you want to squander a pore
boys soul joseph poorgrass  thats what tis   said
cain beginning to cry all i mane is that in common
truth twas miss everdene and sergeant troy but in
the horrible sohelpme truth that ye want to make of
it perhaps twas somebody else  
theres no getting at the rights of it said gabriel
turning to his work
cain ball youll come to a bit of bread   groaned
joseph poorgrass
then the reapers hooks were flourished again and
the old sounds went on gabriel without making any
pretence of being lively did nothing to show that he
was particularly dull however coggan knew pretty
nearly how the land lay and when they were in a nook
together he said 
 dont take on about her gabriel what difference
does it make whose sweetheart she is since she cant be
yours  
thats the very thing i say to myself said gabriel
c xxxiv
home again  a trickster
that same evening at dusk gabriel was leaning over
coggans gardengate taking an upanddown survey
before retiring to rest
a vehicle of some kind was softly creeping along
the grassy margin of the lane from it spread the
tones of two women talking the tones were natural
and not at all suppressed oak instantly knew the
voices to he those of bathsheba and liddy
the carriage came opposite and passed by it was
miss everdenes gig and liddy and her mistress were
the only occupants of the seat liddy was asking
questions about the city of bath and her companion
was answering them listlessly and unconcernedly both
bathsheba and the horse seemed weary
the exquisite relief of finding that she was here
again safe and sound overpowered all reflection and
oak could only luxuriate in the sense of it all grave
reports were forgotten
he lingered and lingered on till there was no
difference between the eastern and western expanses
of sky and the timid hares began to limp courageously
round the dim hillocks gabriel might have been
there an additional halfhour when a dark form walked
slowly by  goodnight gabriel the passer said
it was boldwood  goodnight sir said gabriel
boldwood likewise vanished up the road and oak
shortly afterwards turned indoors to bed
farmer boldwood went on towards miss everdenes
house he reached the front and approaching the
entrance saw a light in the parlour the blind was
not drawn down and inside the room was bathsheba
looking over some papers or letters her back was
towards boldwood he went to the door
knocked
and waited with tense muscles and an aching brow
boldwood had not been outside his garden since
his meeting with bathsheba in the road to yalbury
silent and alone he had remained in moody medita
tion on womans ways deeming as essentials of the
whole sex the accidents of the single one of their
number he had ever closely beheld by degrees a
more charitable temper had pervaded him and this
was the reason of his sally tonight he had come to
apologize and beg forgiveness of bathsheba with some
thing like a sense of shame at his violence having but
just now learnt that she had returned  only from a
visit to liddy as he supposed the bath escapade
being quite unknown to him
he inquired for miss everdene liddys manner
was odd but he did not notice it she went in leaving
him standing there and in her absence the blind of the
room containing bathsheba was pulled down bold
wood augured ill from that sign liddy came out
my mistress cannot see you sir she said
the farmer instantly went out by the gate he
as unforgiven  that was the issue of it all he had
seen her who was to him simultaneously a delight and
a torture sitting in the room he had shared with her
as a peculiarly privileged guest only a little earlier in
he summer and she had denied him an entrance
there now
boldwood did not hurry homeward it was ten
oclock at least when walking deliberately through the
lower part of weatherbury he heard the carriers spring
van entering the village the van ran to and from a
town in a northern direction and it was owned and
driven by a weatherbury man at the door of whose
house it now pulled up the lamp fixed to the head
of the hood illuminated a scarlet and gilded form who
was the first to alight
ah   said boldwood to himself come to see her
again
troy entered the carriers house which had been
the place of his lodging on his last visit to his native
place boldwood was moved by a sudden determina
tion he hastened home in ten minutes he was
back again and made as if he were going to call upon
troy at the carriers but as he approached some
one opened the door and came out he heard this
person say  goodnight  to the inmates and the voice
was troys this was strange coming so immediately
after his arrival boldwood however hastened up
to him troy had what appeared to be a carpetbag
in his hand  the same that he had brought with him
it seemed as if he were going to leave again this very
night
troy turned up the hill and quickened his pace
boldwood stepped forward
 sergeant troy  
 yesim sergeant troy
 just arrived from up the country i think 
 just arrived from bath
 i am william boldwood
 indeed
the tone in which this word was uttered was all
that had been wanted to bring boldwood to the
point
 i wish to speak a word with you he said
 what about  
 about her who lives just ahead there  and about
a woman you have wronged
 i wonder at your impertinence said troy moving
on
 now look here said boldwood standing in front
of him  wonder or not you are going to hold a conver
sation with me
troy heard the dull determination in boldwoods
voice looked at his stalwart frame then at the thick
cudgel he carried in his hand he remembered it was
past ten oclock it seemed worth while to be civil to
boldwood
 very well ill listen with pleasure said troy
placing his bag on the ground only speak low for
somebody or other may overhear us in the farmhouse
there
 well then  i know a good deal concerning your
fanny robins attachment to you i may say too that
i believe i am the only person in the village excepting
gabriel oak who does know it you ought to marry
her
 i suppose i ought indeed l wish to but i
cannot
 why  
troy was about to utter something hastily he then
checked
himself and said i am too poor his voice
was changed previously it had had a deviimaycare
tone it was the voice of a trickster now
boldwoods present mood was not critical enough to
notice tones he continued i may as well speak
plainly and understand i dont wish to enter into the
questions of right or wrong womans honour and shame
or to express any opinion on your conduct i intend a
business transaction with you
 i see said troy  suppose we sit down here
an old tree trunk lay under the hedge immediately
opposite and they sat down
the tone in which this word was uttered was all
troy heard the dull determination in boldwoods
voice looked at his stalwart frame then at the thick
plainly  and understand i dont wish to enter into the
 i was engaged to be married to miss everdene
said boldwood but you came and    
 not engaged said troy
 as good as engaged
 if i had not turned up she might have become en
gaged to you
 hang might  
 would then
 if you had not come i should certainly  yes
certainly  have been accepted by this time if you had
not seen her you might have been married to fanny
well theres too much difference between miss ever
denes station and your own for this flirtation with her
ever to benefit you by ending in marriage so all i ask
is dont molest her any more marry fanny
make it worth your while
 how will you 
 ill pay you well now ill settle a sum of money
upon her and ill see that you dont suffer from poverty
in the future ill put it clearly bathsheba is only
playing with you you are too poor for her as i said
so give up wasting your time about a great match youll
never make for a moderate and rightful match you may
make tomorrow take up your carpetbag turn about
leave weatherbury now this night and you shall take
fifty pounds with you fanny shall have fifty to enable
her to prepare for the wedding when you have told me
where she is living and she shall have five hundred
paid down on her weddingday
in making this statement boldwoods voice revealed
only too clearly a consciousness of the weakness of his
position his aims and his method his manner had
lapsed quite from that of the firm and dignified bold
wood of former times and such a scheme as he had
now engaged in he would have condemned as childishly
imbecile only a few months ago we discern a grand
force in the lover which helacks whilst a free man but
there is a breadth of vision in the free man which in
the lover we vainly seek where there is much bias
there must be some narrowness and love though added
emotion is subtracted capacity boldwood exemplified
this to an abnormal degree he knew nothing of fanny
robins circumstances or whereabouts he knew nothing
of troys possibilities yet that was what he said
 i like fanny best said troy and if as you say
miss everdene is out of my reach why i have all to
gain by accepting your money and marrying fan but
shes only a servant
 never mind  do you agree to my arrangement 
 i do
 ah   said boldwood in a more elastic voice o
troy if you like her best why then did you step in here
and injure my happiness  
 i love fanny best now said troy but
bathsh    miss everdene inflamed me and displaced
fanny for a time it is over now
 why should it be over so soon and why then
did you come here again  
 there are weighty reasons fifty pounds at once
you said 
 i did said boldwood  and here they are  fifty
sovereigns he handed troy a small packet
 you have everything ready  it seems that you
calculated on my accepting them said the sergeant
taking the packet
 i thought you might accept them said boldwood
 youve only my word that the programme shall be
adhered to whilst i at any rate have fifty pounds
 l had thought of that and l have considered that
if i cant appeal to your honour i can trust to your 
well shrewdness well call it  not to lose five hundred
pounds in prospect and
also make a bitter enemy of a
man who is willing to be an extremely useful friend
 stop listen   said troy in a whisper
a light pitpat was audible upon the road just above
them
by george  tis she he continued i must go
on and meet her
she  who  
bathsheba
bathsheba  out alone at this time o night   said
boldwood in amazement and starting up  why must
you meet her 
she was expecting me tonight  and i must now
speak to her and wish her goodbye according to your
wish 
i dont see the necessity of speaking
it can do no harm  and shell be wandering about
looking for me if i dont you shall hear all i say to her
it will help you in your lovemaking when i am gone
your tone is mocking
o no and renaember this if she does not know
what has become of me she will think more about me
than if i tell her flatly i have come to give her up
will you confine your words to that one point   
shall i hear every word you say  
every word now sit still there and hold my
carpet bag for me and mark what you hear
the light footstep came closer halting occasionally
as if the walker listened for a sound troy whistled a
double note in a soft fluty tone
come to that is it   murmured boldwood uneasily
you promised silence said troy
i promise again
troy stepped forward
frank dearest is that you   the tones were
bathshebas
o god   said boldwood
yes said troy to her
how late you are she continued tenderly did
you come by the carrier  i listened and heard his
wheels entering the village but it was some time ago
and i had almost given you up frank
i was sure to come said frank you knew i
should did you not  
well i thought you would she said playfully 
and frank it is so lucky  theres not a soul in my
house but me tonight ive packed them all off so
nobody on earth will know of your visit to your ladys
bower liddy wanted to go to her grandfathers to
tell him about her holiday and i said she might stay
with them till tomorrow  when youll be gone again
capital said troy  but dear me i had better
go back for my bag because my slippers and brush and
comb are in it you run home whilst i fetch it and ill
promise to be in your parlour in ten minutes
yes she turned and tripped up the hill again
during the progress of this dialogue there was a
nervous twitching of boldwoods tightly closed lips and
his face became bathed in a clammy dew he now
started forward towards troy troy turned to him and
took up the bag
shall i tell her i have come to give her up and
cannot marry her   said the soldier mockingly
no no wait a minute i want to say more to
you  more to you   said boldwood in a hoarse whisper
now said troy  you see my dilemma perhaps
i am a bad man  the victim of my impulses  led away
to do what i ought to leave undone i cant however
marry them both and i have two reasons for choosing
fanny first i like her best upon the whole and
second you make it worth my while
at the same instant boldwood sprang upon him and
held him by the neck troy felt boldwoods grasp slowly
tightening the move was absolutely unexpected
a moment he gasped you are injuring her you
love  
well what do you mean   said the farmer
give me breath said troy
boldwood loosened his hand saying by heaven
ive a mind to kill you 
and ruin her
save her
oh how can she be saved now unless i marry her  
boldwood groaned he reluctantly released the
soldier and flung him back against the hedge devil
you torture me   said he
troy rebounded like a ball and was about to make
a dash at the farmer but he checked himself saying
lightly 
it is not worth while to measure my strength with
you indeed it is a barbarous way of settling a quarrel
i shall shortly leave the army because of the same
conviction now after that revelation of how the land
lies with bathsheba twould be a mistake to kill me
would it not
twould be a mistake to kill you repeated boldwood
mechanically with a bowed head
better kill yourself
 far better
im glad you see it
troy make her your wife and dont act upon what
i arranged just now the alternative is dreadful but
take bathsheba i give her up  she must love you
indeed to sell soul and body to you so utterly as she
has done wretched woman  deluded woman  you
are bathsheba  
but about fanny  
bathsheba is a woman well to do continued bold
wood in nervous anxiety and troy she will make a
good wife  and indeed she is worth your hastening
on your marriage with her  
but she has a wilinot to say a temper and i shall
be a mere slave to her i could do anything with poor
fanny robin
troy said boldwood imploringly  ill do anything
for you only dont desert her pray dont desert her
troy
which poor fanny  
no  bathsheba everdene love her best  love
her tenderly  how shall i get you to see how advan
tageous it will be to you to secure her at once 
i dont wish to secure her in any new way
boldwoods arm moved spasmodically towards troys
person again he repressed the instinct and his form
drooped as with pain
troy went on 
i shall soon purchase my discharge and then    
but i wish you to hasten on this marriage  it will
be better for you both you love each other and you
must let me help you to do it
how  
why by settling the five hundred on bathsheba
instead of fanny to enable you to marry at once
no  she wouldnt have it of me ill pay it down to
you on the weddingday
troy paused in secret amazement at boldwoods
wild infatuation he carelessly said and am i to
have anything now  
yes if you wish to but i have not much additional
money with me i did not expect this but all i have
is yours
boldwood more like a somnambulist than a wakeful
man pulled out the large canvas bag he carried by way
of a purse and searched it
i have twentyone pounds more with me he said
two notes and a sovereign but before i leave you
i must have a paper signed    
pay me the money and well go straight to her
parlour and make any arrangement you please to secure
my compliance with your wishes but she must know
nothing of this cash business
 nothing nothing said boldwood hastily here
is the sum and if youll come to my house well write
out the agreement for the remainder and the terms
also
 first well call upon her
but why come with me tonight and go with
me tomorrow to the surrogates
but she must be consulted at any rate informed
very well go on
they went up the hill to bathshebas house when
they stood at the entrance troy said wait here a
moment opening the door he glided inside leaving
the door ajar
boldwood waited in two minutes a light appeared
in the passage boldwood then saw that the chain
had been fastened across the door troy appeared
inside carrying a bedroom candlestick
what did you think i should break in  said
boldwood contemptuously
oh no it is merely my humour to secure things
will you read this a moment  ill hold the light
troy handed a folded newspaper through the slit
between door and doorpost and put the candle close
thats the paragraph he said placing his finger on
a line
boldwood looked and read 
marriages
on the th inst at st ambroses church bath
by the rev g mincing ba francis troy only son
of the late edward troy esq hd of weatherbury
and sergeant iith dragoon guards to bathsheba only
surviving daughter of the late mr john everdene of
casterbridge
this may be called fort meeting feeble hey
boldwood  said troy a low gurgle of derisive
laughter followed the words
the paper fell from boldwoods hands troy
continued 
fifty pounds to marry fanny good twenty
one pounds not to marry fanny but bathsheba good
finale  already bathshebas husband now boldwood
yours is the ridiculous fate which always attends inter
ference between a man and his wife and another
word bad as i am i am not such a villain as to
make the marriage or misery of any woman a matter
of huckster and sale fanny has long ago left me
dont know where she is i have searched everywhere
another word yet you say you love bathsheba  yet
on the merest apparent evidence you instantly believe
in her dishonour a fig for such love  now that ive
taught you a lesson take your money back again
i will not  i will not   said boldwood in a hiss
anyhow i wont have it said troy contemptuously
he wrapped the packet of gold in the notes and threw
the whole into the road
boldwood shook his clenched fist at him you
juggler of satan  you black hound  but ill punish
you yet  mark me ill punish you yet  
another peal of laughter troy then closed the
door and locked himself in
throughout the whole of that night boldwoods dark
downs of weatherbury like an unhappy shade in the
mournful fields by acheron
chapter xxxv
at an upper window
it was very early the next morning  a time of sun and
dew the confused beginnings of many birds songs
spread into the healthy air and the wan blue of the
heaven was here and there coated with thin webs of
incorporeal cloud which were of no efect in obscuring
day all the lights in the scene were yellow as to
colour and all the shadows were attenuated as to form
the creeping plants about the old manorhouse were
bowed with rows of heavy water drops which had upon
objects behind them the effect of minute lenses of high
magnifying power
just before the clock struck five gabriel oak and
coggan passed the village cross and went on together
to the fields they were yet barely in view of their
mistresss house when oak fancied he saw the opening
of a casement in one of the upper windows the two
men were at this moment partially screened by an elder
bush now beginning to be enriched with black bunches
of fruit and they paused before emerging from its
shade
a handsome man leaned idly from the lattice he
looked east and then west in the manner of one who
makes a first morning survey the man was sergeant
troy his red jacket was loosely thrown on but not
buttoned and he had altogether the relaxed bearing of
a soldier taking his ease
coggan spoke first looking quietly at the window
she has married him   he said
gabriel had previously beheld the sight and he now
stood with his back turned making no reply
i fancied we should know something today con
tinued coggan i heard wheels pass my door just
after dark  you were out somewherehe glanced
round upon gabriel good
heavens above us oak
how white your face is you look like a corpse 
do i said oak with a faint smile
lean on the gate ill wait a bit
all right all right 
they stood by the gate awhile gabriel listlessly
staring at the ground his mind sped into the future
and saw there enacted in years of leisure the scenes o
repentance that would ensue from this work of haste
that they were married he had instantly decided why
had it been so mysteriously managed  it had become
known that she had had a fearful journey to bath owing
to her miscalculating the distance  that the horse had
broken down and that she had been more than two
days getting there it was not bathshebas way to do
things furtively with all her faults she was candour
itself could she have been entrapped  the union
was not only an unutterable grief to him it amazed
him notwithstanding that he had passed the preceding
week in a suspicion that such might be the issue of
troys meeting her away from home her quiet return
with liddy had to some extent dispersed the dread
just as that imperceptible motion which appears like
stillness is infinitely divided in its properties from stili
ness itself so had his hope undistinguishable from
despair differed from despair indeed
in a few minutes they moved on again towards the
house the sergeant still looked from the window
morning comrades   he shouted in a cheery voice
when they came up
coggan replied to the greeting  baint ye going to
answer the man  he then said to gabriel id say
good morning  you neednt spend a hapeth of meaning
upon it and yet keep the man civil
gabriel soon decided too that since the deed was
done to put the best face upon the matter would be the
greatest kindness to her he loved
good morning sergeant troy he returned in a
ghastly voice
a rambling gloomy house this said troy smiling
 why  they may not be married   suggested coggan
 perhaps shes not there
gabriel shook his head the soldier turned a little
towards the east and the sun kindled his scarlet coat
to an orange glow
but it is a nice old house responded gabriel
yesi suppose so but i feel like new wine in an
old bottle here my notion is that sashwindows should
be put throughout and these old wainscoted walls
brightened up a bit  or the oak cleared quite away and
the walls papered
it would be a pity i think
well no a philosopher once said in my hearing
that the old builders who worked when art was a living
thing had no respect for the work of builders who went
before them but pulled down and altered as they
thought fit and why shouldnt we  creation and
preservation dont do well together says he and a
million of antiquarians cant invent a style my mind
exactly i am for niaking this place more modern that
we may be cheerful whilst we can
the military man turned and surveyed the interior
of the room to assist his ideas of improvement in this
direction gabriel and coggan began to move on
 oh coggan said troy as if inspired by a recollec
tion  do you know if insanity has ever appeared in mr
boldwoods family  
jan reflected for a moment
i once heard that an uncle of his was queer in his
head but i dont know the rights ot he said
it is of no importance said troy lightly well
i shall be down in the fields with you some time this
week  but i have a few matters to attend to first so
goodday to you we shall of course keep on just as
friendly terms as usual im not a proud man  nobody
is ever able to say that of sergeant troy however
what is must be and heres halfacrown to drink my
health men
troy threw the coin dexterously across the front plot
and over the fence towards gabriel who shunned it in
its fall his face turning to an angry red coggan
twirled his eye edged
forward and caught the money
in its ricochet upon the road
 very weliyou keep it coggan said gabriel with
disdain and almost fiercely as for me ill do with
out gifts from him 
dont show it too much said coggan musingly
for if hes married to her mark my words hell buy
his discharge and be our master here therefore tis
well to say  friend  outwardly though you say
troublehouse  within 
 weliperhaps it is best to be silent but i cant
go further than that i cant flatter and if my place
here is only to be kept by smoothing him down my
place must be lost
a horseman whom they had for some time seen in
the distance now appeared close beside them
 theres mr boldwood said oak  i wonder what
troy meant by his question
coggan and oak nodded respectfully to the farmer
just checked their paces to discover if they were wanted
and finding they were not stood back to let him pass on
the only signs of the terrible sorrow boldwood had
been combating through the night and was combating
now were the want of colour in his welidefined face
the enlarged appearance of the veins in his forehead
and temples and the sharper lines about his mouth
the horse bore him away and the very step of the
animal seemed significant of dogged despair gabriel for
a minute rose above his own grief in noticing boldwoods
he saw the square figure sitting erect upon the horse
the head turned to neither side the elbows steady by
the hips the brim of the hat level and undisturbed in
its onward glide until the keen edges of boldwoods
shape sank by degrees over the hill to one who knew
the man and his story there was something more striking
in this immobility than in a collapse the clash of
discord between mood and matter here was forced
painfully home to the heart  and as in laughter there are
more dreadful phases than in tears so was there in the
steadiness of this agonized man an expression deeper
than a cry
wealth in jeopardy  the rveel
one night at the end of august when bathshebas
experiences as a married woman were still new and
when the weather was yet dry and sultry a man stood
motionless in the stackyard of weatherbury upper
farm looking at the moon and sky
the night had a sinister aspect a heated breeze
from the south slowly fanned the summits of lofty
objects and in the sky dashes of buoyant cloud were
sailing in a course at right angles to that of another
stratum neither of them in the direction of the breeze
below the moon as seen through these films had
a lurid metallic look the fields were sallow with the
impure light and all were tinged in monochrome as
if beheld through stained glass the same evening
the sheep had trailed homeward head to tail the
behaviour of the rooks had heen confused and the
horses had moved with timidity and caution
thunder was imminent and taking some secondary
appearances into consideration it was likely to be
followed by one of the lengthened rains which mark
the close of dry weather for the season before twelve
hours had passed a harvest atmosphere would be a
bygone thing
oak gazed with misgiving at eight naked and un
protected ricks massive and heavy with the rich
produce of onehalf the farm for that year he went
on to the barn
this was the night which had been selected by
sergeant troy  ruling now in the room of his wife 
for giving the harvest supper and dance as oak
approached the building the sound of violins and a
tambourine and the regular jigging of many feet grew
more distinct he came close to the large doors one
of which stood slightly ajar and looked in
the central space together with the recess at one
end was
emptied of all incumbrances and this area
covering about twothirds of the whole was appropriated
for the gathering the remaining end which was piled
to the ceiling with oats being screened off with sail
cloth tufts and garlands of green foliage decomted
the walls beams and extemporized chandeliers and
immediately opposite to oak a rostrum had been
erected bearing a table and chairs here sat three
fiddlers and beside them stood a frantic man with his
hair on end perspiration streaming down his cheeks
and a tanabourine quivering in his hand
the dance ended and on the black oak floor in the
midst a new row of couples formed for another
now maam and no offence i hope i ask what
dance you would like next  said the first violin
really it makes no difference said the clear voice
of bathsheba who stood at the inner end of the build
ing observing the scene from behind a table covered
with cups and viands troy was lolling beside her
then said the fiddler ill venture to name that
the right and proper thing is the soldiers joy 
there being a gallant soldier married into the farm 
hey my sonnies and gentlemen all  
it shall be the soldiers joy exclaimed a
chorus
thanks for the compliment said the sergeant
the revel
gaily taking bathsheba by the hand and leading her
to the top of the dance for though i have pur
chased my discharge from her most gracious majestys
regiment of cavalry the th dragoon guards to attend
to the new duties awaiting me here i shall continue a
soldier in spirit and feeling as long as i live
so the dance began as to the merits of the
soldiers joy there cannot be and never were two
opinions it has been observed in the musical circles
of weatherbury and its vicinity that this melody at
the end of threequarters of an hour of thunderous
footing still possesses more stimulative properties for
the heel and toe than the majority of other dances at
their first opening the soldiers joy has too an
additional charm in being so admirably adapted to
the tambourine aforesaid  no mean instrument in the
hands of a performer
who understands the proper
convulsions spasms st vituss dances and fearful
frenzies necessary when exhibiting its tones in their
highest perfection
the immortal tune ended a fine dd rolling forth
from the bassviol with the sonorousness of a cannonade
and gabriel delayed his entry no longer he avoided
bathsheba and got as near as possible to the platform
where sergeant troy was now seated drinking brandy
andwater though the others drank without exception
cider and ale gabriel could not easily thrust himself
within speaking distance of the sergeant and he sent
a message asking him to come down for a moment
the sergeant said he could not attend
will you tell him then said gabriel that i only
stepped athart to say that a heavy rain is sure to fall
soon and that something should be done to protect
the ricks 
m troy says it will not rain returned the
messenger and he cannot stop to talk to you about
such fidgets
in juxtaposition with troy oak had a melancholy
tendency to look like a candle beside gas and ill at
ease he went out again thinking he would go home 
for under the circumstances he had no heart for the
scene in the barn at the door he paused for a
moment  troy was speaking
friends it is not only the harvest home that we
are celebrating tonight but this is also a wedding
feast a short time ago i had the happiness to lead
to the altar this lady your mistress and not until now
have we been able to give any public flourish to the
event in weatherbury that it may be thoroughly
well done and that every man may go happy to bed
i have ordered to be brought here some bottles of
brandy and kettles of hot water a treblestrong
goblet will he handed round to each guest
bathsheba put her hand upon his arm and with
upturned pale face said imploringly  no  dont give
it to them  pray dont frank  it will only do them
harm  they have had enough of everything
true  we dont wish for no more thank ye said
one or two
pooh   said the sergeant contemptuously and
raised his
voice as if lighted up by a new idea
 friends he said  well send the womenfolk home 
tis time they were in bed then we cockbirds will
have a jolly carouse to ourselves  if any of the men
show the white feather let them look elsewhere for a
winters work
bathsheba indignantly left the barn followed by
all the women and children the musicians not
looking upon themselves as  company slipped quietly
away to their spring waggon and put in the horse
thus troy and the men on the farm were left sole
occupants of the place oak not to appear unneces
sarily disagreeable stayed a little while  then he too
arose and quietly took his departure followed by a
friendly oath from the sergeant for not staying to a
second round of grog
gabriel proceeded towards his home in approach
ing the door his toe kicked something which felt and
sounded soft leathery and distended like a boxing
glove it was a large toad humbly travelling across
the path oak took it up thinking it might be better
to kill the creature to save it from pain but finding
it uninjured he placed it again among the grass he
knew what this direct message from the great mother
meant and soon came another
when he struck a light indoors there appeared upon
the table a thin glistening streak as if a brush of varnish
had been lightly dragged across it oaks eyes followed
the serpentine sheen to the other side where it led up
to a huge brown gardenslug which had come indoors
tonight for reasons of its own it was natures second
way of hinting to him that he was to prepare for foul
weather
oak sat down meditating for nearly an hour
during this time two black spiders of the kind common
in thatched houses promenaded the ceiling ultimately
dropping to the floor this reminded him that if there
was one class of manifestation on this matter that he
thoroughly understood it was the instincts of sheep
he left the room ran across two or three fields towards
the flock got upon a hedge and looked over among
them
they were crowded close together on the other side
around some
furze bushes and the first peculiarity ob
servable was that on the sudden appearance of oaks
head over the fence they did not stir or run away
they had now a terror of something greater than their
terror of man but this was not the most noteworthy
feature  they were all grouped in such a way that their
tails without a single exception were towards that half
of the horizon from which the storm threatened there
was an inner circle closely huddled and outside these
they radiated wider apart the pattern formed by the
flock as a whole not being unlike a vandyked lace
collar to which the clump of furzebushes stood in the
position of a wearers neck
opinion he knew now that he was right and that
troy was wrong every voice in nature was unanimous
in bespeaking change but two distinct translations
attached to these dumb expressions apparently there
was to be a thunderstorm and afterwards a cold con
tinuous rain the creeping things seemed to know all
about the later rain hut little of the interpolated
thunderstorm  whilst the sheep knew all about the
thunderstorm and nothing of the later rain
this complication of weathers being uncommon
was all the more to be feared oak returned to the
stackyard all was silent here and the conical tips of
the ricks jutted darkly into the sky there were five
wheatricks in this yard and three stacks of barley
the wheat when threshed would average about thirty
quarters to each stack  the barley at least forty their
value to bathsheba and indeed to anybody oak
mentally estimated by the following simple calcula
tion  
 x    quarters fl
 x  quarters l
total   l
seven hundred and fifty pounds in the divinest form
that money can wear  that of necessary food for man
and beast  should the risk be run cf deteriorating this
bulk of corn to less than half its value because of the
instability of a woman  never if i can prevent it 
said gabriel
such was the argument that oak set outwardly before
him but man even to himself is a palimpsest having
an ostensible writing and another beneath the lines
it is possible that there was this golden legend under
the utilitarian one i will help to my last effort the
woman i have loved so dearly
he went back to the barn to endeavour to obtain
assistance for covering the ricks that very
night all
was silent within and he would have passed on in the
belief that the party had broken up had not a dim
light yellow as saffron by contrast with the greenish
whiteness outside streamed through a knothole in the
folding doors
gabriel looked in an unusual picture met his
eye
the candles suspended among the evergreens had
burnt down to their sockets and in some cases the
leaves tied about them were scorched many of the
lights had quite gone out others smoked and stank
grease dropping from them upon the floor here
under the table and leaning against forms and chairs
in every conceivable attitude except the perpendicular 
were the wretched persons of all the workfolk the hair
of their heads at such low levels being suggestive of
mops and brooms in the midst of these shone red
and distinct the figure of sergeant troy leaning back
in a chair coggan was on his back with his mouth
open huzzing forth snores as were several others  the
united breathings of the horizonal assemblage forming
a subdued roar like london from a distance joseph
poorgrass was curled round in the fashion of a hedge
hog apparently in attempts to present the least possible
portion of his surface to the air and behind him was
dimly visible an unimportant remnant of william smali
bury the glasses and cups still stood upon the table
a waterjug being overturned from which a small rill
after tracing its course with marvellous precision down
the centre of the long table fell into the neck of the
unconscious mark clark in a steady monotonous drip
like the dripping of a stalactite in a cave
gabriel glanced hopelessly at the group which with
one or two exceptions composed all the ablebodied
men upon the farm he saw at once that if the ricks
were to be saved that night or even the next morning
he must save them with his own hands
a faint  tingting  resounded from under coggans
waistcoat it was coggans watch striking the hour of
two
oak went to the recumbent form of matthew moon
who usually undertook the rough thatching of the home
stead and shook him the shaking was without effect
gabriel shouted in his ear  wheres your thatching
beetle and rickstick and spars  
 under the staddles said moon mechanically with
the unconscious promptness of a medium
gabriel let go his head and it dropped upon the
floor like a bowl he then went to susan talls
husband
 wheres the key of the granary  
no answer the question was repeated with the
same result to be shouted to at night was evidently
less of a novelty to susan talls husband than to
matthew moon oak flung down talls head into the
corner again and turned away
to be just the men were not greatly to blame for
this painful and demoralizing termination to the
evenings entertainment sergeant troy had so strenu
ously insisted glass in hand that drinking should be
the bond of their union that those who wished to refuse
hardly liked to be so unmannerly under the circum
stances having from their youth up been entirely un
accustomed to any liquor stronger than cider or mild
ale it was no wonder that they had succumbed one
and all with extraordinary uniformity after the lapse of
about an hour
gabriel was greatly depressed this debauch boded
ill for that wilful and fascinating mistress whom the
faithful man even now felt within him as the embodi
ment of all that was sweet and bright and hopeless
he put out the expiring lights that the barn might
not be endangered closed the door upon the men in
their deep and oblivious sleep and went again into the
lone night a hot breeze as if breathed from the
parted lips of some dragon about to swallow the globe
fanned him from the south while directly opposite in
the north rose a grim misshapen body of
cloud in the
very teeth of the wind so unnaturally did it rise that
one could fancy it to be lifted by machinery from below
meanwhile the faint cloudlets had flown back into the
southeast corner of the sky as if in terror of the large
cloud like a young brood gazed in upon by some
monster
going on to the village oak flung a small stone
against the window of laban talls bedroom expecting
susan to open it  but nobody stirred he went round
to the back door which had been left unfastened for
labans entry and passed in to the foot of the stair
case
mrs tall ive come for the key of the granary
to get at the rickcloths said oak in a stentorian
voice
is that you   said mrs susan tall half awake
 yes said gabriel
come along to bed do you drawlatching rogue 
keeping a body awake like this 
it isnt laban  tis gabriel oak i want the key
of the granary
gabriel what in the name of fortune did you
pretend to be laban for 
 i didnt i thought you meant    
yes you did  what do you want here 
the key of the granary
take it then tis on the nail people coming
disturbing women at this time of night ought    
gabriel took the key without waiting to hear the
conclusion of the tirade ten minutes later his lonely
figure might have been seen dragging four large water
proof coverings across the yard and soon two of these
heaps of treasure in grain were covered snug  two cloths
to each two hundred pounds were secured three
wheatstacks remained open and there were no more
cloths oak looked under the staddles and found a
fork he mounted the third pile of wealth and began
operating adopting the plan of sloping the upper
sheaves one over the other and in addition filling
the interstices with the material of some untied sheaves
so far all was well by this hurried contrivance
bathshebas
property in wheat was safe for at any rate
a week or two provided always that there was not
much wind
next came the barley this it was only possible to
protect by systematic thatching time went on and
the moon vanished not to reappear it was the
farewell of the ambassador previous to war the
night had a haggard look like a sick thing and there
came finally an utter expiration of air from the whole
heaven in the form of a slow breeze which might have
been likened to a death and now nothing was heard
in the yard but the dull thuds of the beetle which drove
in the spars and the rustle of thatch in the intervals
the storm
the storm  the two together
a light flapped over the scene as if reflected from
phosphorescent wings crossing the sky and a rumble
filled the air it was the first move of the approaching
storm
the second peal was noisy with comparatively little
visible lightning gabriel saw a candle shining in bath
shebas bedroom and soon a shadow swept to and fro
upon the blind
then there came a third flash manoeuvres of a
most extraordinary kind were going on in the vast
firmamental hollows overhead the lightning now was
the colour of silver and gleamed in the heavens like a
mailed army rumbles became rattles gabriel from
his elevated position could see over the landscape at
least halfadozen miles in front every hedge bush
and tree was distinct as in a line engraving in a
paddock in the same direction was a herd of heifers
and the forms of these were visible at this moment in
the act of galloping about in the wildest and maddest
confusion flinging their heels and tails high into the air
their heads to earth a poplar in the immediate fore
ground was like an ink stroke on burnished tin then
the picture vanished leaving the darkness so intense
that gabriel worked entirely by feeling with his hands
he had stuck his rickingrod or poniard as it was
indifferently called  a long iron lance polished by
handling  into the stack used to support the sheaves
instead of the support called a groom used on houses
a blue light appeared in the zenith and in some in
describable manner flickered down near the top of the
rod it was the fourth of the larger flashes a moment
later and there was a smack  smart clear and short
gabriel felt his position to be anything but a safe one
and he resolved to descend
not a drop of rain had fallen as yet he wiped his
weary brow and looked again at the black forms of
the unprotected
stacks was his life so valuable to
him after all what were his prospects that he
should be so chary of running risk when important
and urgent labour could not be carried on without
such risk  he resolved to stick to the stack how
ever he took a precaution under the staddles was
a long tethering chain used to prevent the escape of
errant horses this he carried up the ladder and
sticking his rod through the clog at one end allowed
the other end of the chain to trail upon the ground
the spike attached to it he drove in under the
shadow of this extemporized lightningconductor he
felt himself comparatively safe
before oak had laid his hands upon his tools again
out leapt the fifth flash with the spring of a serpent
and the shout of a fiend it was green as an
emerald and the reverberation was stunning what
was this the light revealed to him in the open
ground before him as he looked over the ridge of
the rick was a dark and apparently female form
could it be that of the only venturesome woman in
the parish  bathsheba  the form moved on a step 
then he could see no more
is that you maam   said gabriel to the darkness
who is there  said the voice of bathsheba
the two together
gabriel i am on the rick thatching
o gabriel   and are you  i have come about
them the weather awoke me and i thought of the
corn i am so distressed about it  can we save it any
how  i cannot find my husband is he with you 
he is not here
do you know where he is 
asleep in the barn
he promised that the stacks should be seen to
and now they are all neglected  can i do anything
to help  liddy is afraid to come out fancy finding
you here at such an hour  surely i can do something  
you can bring up some reedsheaves to me one by
one maam if you are not afraid to come up the ladder
in the dark said gabriel every moment is precious
now and that would save a good deal of time it is
not very dark when the lightning has been gone a bit
ill do anything   she said resolutely she instantly
took a sheaf upon her shoulder clambered up close to
his heels placed it behind the rod and descended for
another at her third ascent the rick suddenly brightened
with the brazen glare of shining majolica  every knot
in every straw was visible on the slope in front of him
appeared two human shapes black as jet the rick
lost its sheen  the shapes vanished gabriel turned his
head it had been the sixth flash which had come from
the east behind him and the two dark forms on the
slope had been the shadows of himself and bathsheba
then came the peal it hardly was credible that
such a heavenly light could be the parent of such a
diabolical sound
how terrible   she exclaimed and clutched him by
the sleeve gabriel turned and steadied her on her
aerial perch by holding her arm at the same moment
while he was still reversed in his attitude there was
more light and he saw as it were a copy of the tall
poplar tree on the hill drawn in black on the wall of
the barn it was the shadow of that tree thrown across
by a secondary flash in the west
the next flare came bathsheba was on the ground
now shouldering another sheaf and she bore its dazzle
without flinching  thunder and aliand again ascended
with the load there was then a silence everywhere
for four or five minutes and the crunch of the spars
as gabriel hastily drove them in could again be distinctly
heard he thought the crisis of the storm had passed
but there came a burst of light
hold on   said gabriel taking the sheaf from her
shoulder and grasping her arm again
heaven opened then indeed the flash was almost
too novel for its inexpressibly dangerous nature to be
at once realized and they could only comprehend the
magnificence of its beauty it sprang from east west
north south and was a perfect dance of death the
forms of skeletons appeared in the air shaped with
blue fire for bones  dancing leaping striding racing
around and mingling altogether in unparalleled con
fusion with these were intertwined undulating snakes of
green and behind these was a broad mass of lesser light
simultaneously came from every part of the tumbling
sky what may be called a shout  since though no shout
ever came near it it was more of the nature of a shout
than of anything eise earthly in the meantime one of
the grisly forms had alighted upon the point of gabriels
rod to run invisibly down it down the chain and into
the earth gabriel was almost blinded and he could
feel bathshebas warm arm tremble in his hand  a
sensation novel and thrilling enough  but love life
everything human seemed small and trifling in such
close juxtaposition with an infuriated universe
oak had hardly time to gather up these impressions
into a thought and to see how strangely the red feather
of her hat shone in this light when the tall tree on the
hill before mentioned seemed on fire to a white heat
and a new one among these terrible voices mingled with
the last crash of those preceding it was a stupefying
blast harsh and pitiless and it fell upon their ears in a
dead flat blow without that reverberation which lends
the tones of a drum to more distant thunder by the
lustre reflected from every part of the earth and from the
wide domical scoop above it he saw that the tree was
sliced down the whole length of its tall straight stem a
huge riband of bark being apparently flung off the
other portion remained erect and revealed the bared
surface as a strip of white down the front the
lightning had struck the tree a sulphurous smell
filled the air then all was silent and black as a cave
in hinnom
 we had a narrow escape   said gabriel hurriedly
 you had better go down
bathsheba said nothing  but he could distinctly hear
her rhythmical pants and the recurrent rustle of the
sheaf beside her in response to her frightened pulsations
she descended the ladder and on second thoughts he
followed her the darkness was now impenetrable by
the sharpest vision they both stood still at the
bottom side by side bathsheba appeared to think
only of the weather  oak thought only of her just then
at last he said 
the storm seems to have passed now at any
rate
 i think so too said bathsheba  though there
are multitudes of gleams look  
the sky was now filled with an incessant light
frequent repetition melting into complete continuity as
an unbroken sound results from the successive strokes
on a gong
 nothing serious said he  i cannot understand
no rain falling but heaven be praised it is all the
better for us i am now going up again
 gabriel you are kinder than i deserve  i will stay
and help you yet o why are not some of the others
here  
 they would have been here if they could said oak
in a hesitating way
o i know it aliall she said adding slowly 
 they are all asleep in the barn in a drunken sleep and
my husband among them thats it is it not  dont
think i am a timid woman and cant endure things
i am not certain said gabriel i will go and see
he crossed to the barn leaving her there alone he
looked through the chinks of the door all was in
total darkness as he had left it and there still arose as
at the former time the steady buzz of many snores
he felt a zephyr curling about his cheek and turned
it was bathshebas breath  she had followed him and
was looking into the same chink
he endeavoured to put off the immediate and pain
ful subject of their thoughts by remarking gently lf
youll come back again miss  maam and hand up a
few more it would save much time
then oak went back again ascended to the top
stepped off the ladder for greater expedition and went
on thatching she followed but without a sheaf
 gabriel she said in a strange and impressive voice
oak looked up at her she had not spoken since
he left the barn the soft and continual shimmer of
the dying lightning showed a marble face high against
the black sky of the opposite quarter bathsheba was
sitting almost on the apex of the stack her feet gathered
up beneath her and resting on the top round of the
ladder
 yes mistress he said
i suppose you thought that when i galloped away
to bath that night it was on purpose to be married 
i did at last  not at first he answered somewhat
surprised at the abruptness with which this new subject
was broached
 and others thought so too  
 yes
and you blamed me for it 
 welia little
i thought so now i care a little for your good
opinion and i want to explain somethingi have
longed to do it ever since i returned and you looked so
gravely at me for if i were to die  and i may die
soon  it would be dreadful that you should always think
mistakenly of me now listen
gabriel ceased his rustling
i went to bath that night in the full intention of
breaking off my engagement to mr troy it was owing
to circumstances which occurred after i got there that
  that we were married now do you see the matter
in a new light
 i do  somewhat
 i must i suppose say more now that i have
begun and perhaps its no harm for you are certainly
under no delusion that i ever loved you or that i can
have any object in speaking more than that object i
have mentioned well i was alone in a strange city
and the horse was lame and at last i didnt know
what to do i saw when it was too late that scandal
might seize hold of me for meeting him alone in that
way but i was coming away when he suddenly said
he had that day seen a woman more beautiful than i
and that his constancy could not be counted on unless
i at once became his and i was grieved and
troubled     she cleared her voice and waited a
moment as if to gather breath  and then between
jealousy and distraction i married him   she whispered
with desperate impetuosity
gabriel made no reply
he was not to blame for it was perfectly true about
  about his seeing somebody else she quickly added
and now i dont wish for a single remark from you
upon the subject 
indeed i forbid it i only wanted
you to know that misunderstood bit of my history before
a time comes when you could never know it  you want
some more sheaves  
she went down the ladder and the work proceeded
gabriel soon perceived a languor in the movements of
his mistress up and down and he said to her gently as
a mother 
i think you had better go indoors now you are
tired i can finish the rest alone if the wind does
not change the rain is likely to keep off
if i am useless i will go said bathsheba in a
flagging cadence but o if your life should be lost 
 you are not useless but i would rather not tire
you longer you have done well
and you better   she said gratefully  thank you
for your devotion a thousand times gabriel  good
nighti know you are doing your very best for me
she diminished in the gloom and vanished and he
heard the latch of the gate fall as she passed through
he worked in a reverie now musing upon her story and
upon the contradictoriness of that feminine heart which
had caused her to speak more warmly to him tonight
than she ever had done whilst unmarried and free to
speak as warmly as she chose
he was disturbed in his meditation by a grating
noise from the coachhouse it was the vane on the
roof turning round and this change in the wind was the
signal for a disastrous rain
rain
rain  one solitary meets another
it was now five oclock and the dawn was promising
to break in hues of drab and ash
the air changed its temperature and stirred itself
more vigorously cool breezes coursed in transparent
eddies round oaks face the wind shifted yet a point
or two and blew stronger in ten minutes every wind
of heaven seemed to be roaming at large some of the
thatching on the wheatstacks was now whirled fantas
tically aloft and had to be replaced and weighted with
some rails that lay near at hand this done oak slaved
away again at the barley a huge drop of rain smote
his face the wind snarled round every corner the trees
rocked to the bases of their trunks and the twigs clashed
in strife driving in spars at any point and on any
system inch by inch he covered more and more safely
from ruin this distracting impersonation of seven hundred
pounds the rain came on in earnest and oak soon felt
the water to be tracking cold and clammy routes down
his back ultimately he was reduced welinigh to a
homogeneous sop and the dyes of his clothes trickled
down and stood in a pool at the foot of the ladder
the rain stretched obliquely through the dull atmo
sphere in liquid spines unbroken in continuity between
their beginnings in the clouds and their points in him
oak suddenly remembered that eight months before
this time he had been fighting against fire in the same
spot as desperately as he was fighting against water
now  and for a futile love of the same woman as for
her     but oak was generous and true and dis
missed his reflections
it was about seven oclock in the dark leaden
morning when gabriel came down from the last stack
and thankfully exclaimed it is done   he was
drenched weary and sad and yet not so sad as drenched
and weary for he was cheered by a sense of success in
a good cause
faint sounds came from the barn and he looked
that way figures stepped singly and in pairs through
the doors  all walking awkwardly and abashed save
the foremost who wore a red jacket and advanced
with his hands in his pockets whistling the others
shambled after with a consciencestricken air  the whole
procession was not unlike flaxmans group of the suitors
tottering on towards the infernal regions under the
conduct of mercury the gnarled shapes passed into
the village troy their leader entering the farmhouse
not a single one of them had turned his face to the
ricks or apparently bestowed one thought upon their
condition
soon oak too went homeward by a different route
from theirs in front of him against the wet glazed
surface of the lane he saw a person walking yet more
slowly than himself under an umbrella the man
turned and plainly started he was boldwood
 how are you this morning sir  said oak
yes it is a wet day  oh i am well very well i
thank you  quite well
i am glad to hear it sir
boldwood seemed to awake to the present by degrees
 you look tired and ill oak he said then desultorily
regarding his companion
 i am tired you look strangely altered sir
i not a bit of it  i am well enough what put
that into your head 
i thought you didnt look quite so topping as you
used to that was all
 indeed then you are mistaken said boldwood
shortly nothing hurts me my constitution is an
iron one
ive been working hard to get our ricks covered
and was barely in time never had such a struggle in
my life yours of course are safe sir
 o yes boldwood added after an interval of
silence   what did you ask oak  
 your ricks are all covered before this time  
no
 at any rate the large ones upon the stone staddles 
 they are not
them under the hedge 
 no i forgot to tell the thatcher to set about it
 nor the little one by the stile 
nor the little one by the stile i overlooked the
ricks this year
then not a tenth of your corn will come to measure
sir
 possibly not
 overlooked them repeated gabriel slowly to him
self it is difficult to describe the intensely dramatic
effect that announcement had upon oak at such a
moment all the night he had been feeling that the
neglect he was labouring to repair was abnormal and
isolated  the only instance of the kind within the circuit
of the county yet at this very time within the same
parish a greater waste had been going on uncomplained
of and disregarded a few months earlier boldwoods
forgetting his husbandry would have been as preposter
ous an idea as a sailor forgetting he was in a ship oak
was just thinking that whatever he himself might have
suffered from bathshebas marriage here was a man
who had suffered more when boldwood spoke in a
changed voice  that of one who yearned to make a
confidence and relieve his heart by an outpouring
oak you know as well as i that things have gone
wrong with me lately i may as well own it i was
going to get a little settled in life but in some way my
plan has come to nothing
i thought my mistress would have married you
said gabriel not knowing enough of the full depths of
boldwoods love to keep silence on the farmers account
and determined not to evade discipline by doing so on
his own however it is so sometimes and nothing
happens that we expect he added with the repose of
a man whom misfortune had inured rather than sub
dued
i daresay i am a joke about the parish said bold
wood as if the subject came irresistibly to his tongue
and with a miserable lightness meant to express his
indifference
 o no  i dont think that
  but the real truth of the matter is that there was
not as some fancy any jilting on  her part no
engagement ever existed between me and miss ever
dene people say so but it is untrue she never
promised me   boldwood stood still now and turned
his wild face to oak o gabriel he continued i
am weak and foolish and i dont know what and i
cant fend off my miserable grief   i had some faint
belief in the mercy of god till i lost that woman yes
he prepared a gourd to shade me and like the prophet
i thanked him and was glad but the next day he
prepared a worm to smite the gourd and wither it and
i feel it is better to die than to live
a silence followed boldwood aroused himself from
the momentary mood of confidence into which he had
drifted and walked on again resuming his usual reserve
 no gabriel he resumed with a carelessness which
was like the smile on the countenance of a skull it
was made more of by other people than ever it was by
us i do feel a little regret occasionally but no woman
ever had power over me for any length of time well
good morning  i can trust you not to mention to others
what has passed between us two here
coming home  a cry
on the turnpke road between casterbridge and
weatherbury and about three miles from the former
which pervade the highways of this undulating part of
south wessex i returning from market it is usual
for the farmers and other giggentry to alight at the
bottom and walk up
one saturday evening in the month of october
bathshebas vehicle was duly creeping up this incline
she was sitting listlessly in the second seat of the gig
whilst walking beside her in farmers marketing suit
of unusually fashionable cut was an erect welimade
young man though on foot he held the reins and
whip and occasionally aimed light cuts at the horses
ear with the end of the lash as a recreation this
man was her husband formerly sergeant troy who
having bought his discharge with bathshebas money
was gradually transforming himself into a farmer of a
spirited and very modern school people of unalter
able ideas still insisted upon calling him sergeant
when they met him which was in some degree owing
to his having still retained the welishaped moustache
of his military days and the soldierly bearing insepar
able from his form and training
yes if it hadnt been for that wretched rain i
should have cleared two hundred as easy as looking
my love he was saying dont you see it altered
all the chances to speak like a book i once read
wet weather is the narrative and fine days are the
episodes of our countrys history now isnt that
true
 but the time of year is come for changeable weather
well yes the fact is these autumn races are the
ruin of everybody never did i see such a day as twas 
tis a wild open place just out of budmouth and a
drab sea rolled in
towards us like liquid misery wind
and rain  good lord  dark  why twas as black
as my hat before the last race was run twas five
oclock and you couldnt see the horses till they were
almost in leave alone colours the ground was as
heavy as lead and all judgment from a fellows experi
ence went for nothing horses riders people were
all blown about like ships at sea three booths were
blown over and the wretched folk inside crawled out
upon their hands and knees and in the next field
were as many as a dozen hats at one time aye
pimpernel regularly stuck fast when about sixty yards
off and when i saw policy stepping on it did knock
my heart against the lining of my ribs i assure you
my love
 and you mean frank said bathsheba sadly 
her voice was painfully lowered from the fulness and
vivacity of the previous summer  that you have lost
more than a hundred pounds in a month by this
dreadful horseracing  o frank it is cruel it is
foolish of you to take away my money so we shall
have to leave the farm that will be the end of it 
 humbug about cruel now there tis again 
turn on the waterworks  thats just like you
but youll promise me not to go to budmouth
second meeting wont you   she implored bathsheba
was at the full depth for tears but she maintained a
dry eye
i dont see why i should in fact if it turns out to
be a fine day i was thinking of taking you
never never ill go a hundred miles the other
way first i hate the sound of the very word
but the question of going to see the race or staying
at home has very little to do with the matter bets are
all booked safely enough before the race begins you
may depend whether it is a bad race for me or a
good one will have very little to do with our going
there next monday
but you dont mean to say that you have risked
anything on this one too   she exclaimed with an
agonized look
there now dont you be a little fool wait till you
are told why bathsheba you have lost all the pluck
and sauciness you formerly had and upon my life if i
had known what a
chickenhearted creature you were
under all your boldness id never havei know what
a flash of indignation might have been seen in
bathshebas dark eyes as she looked resolutely ahead
after this reply they moved on without further
speech some earlywithered leaves from the trees which
hooded the road at this spot occasionally spinning
downward across their path to the earth
a woman appeared on the brow of the hill the
ridge was in a cutting so that she was very near the
husband and wife before she became visible troy had
turned towards the gig to remount and whilst putting
his foot on the stepthe woman passed behind him
though the overshadowing trees and the approach
of eventide enveloped them in gloom bathsheba could
see plainly enough to discern the extreme poverty of
the womans garb and the sadness of her face
please sir do you know at what time casterbridge
unionhouse closes at night  
a cry
the woman said these words to troy over his
shoulder
troy started visibly at the sound of the voice yet
he seemed to recover presence of mind sufficient to
prevent himself from giving way to his impulse to
suddenly turn and face her he said slowly 
 i dont know
the woman on hearing him speak quickly looked
up examined the side of his face and recognized the
soldier under the yeomans garb her face was drawn
into an expression which had gladness and agony both
among its elements she uttered an hysterical cry
and fell down
 o poor thing exclaimed bathsheba instantly
preparing to alight
stay where you are and attend to the horse
said troy peremptorily throwing her the reins and
the whip walk the horse to the top ill see to
the woman
 but i  
 do you hear clk  poppet
the horse gig and bathsheba moved on
how on earth did you come here i thought
you were miles away or dead why didnt you
write to me said troy to the woman in a strangely
gentle yet hurried voice as he lifted her up
 i feared to
have you any money
none
good heaven  i wish i had more to give you
heres    wretched    the merest trifle it is every
farthing i have left i have none but what my wife
gives me you know and i cant ask her now
the woman made no answer
i have only another moment continued troy
and now listen where are you going tonight
casterbridge union
yes i thought to go there
 you shant go there yet wait yes perhaps for
tonight  i can do nothing better  worse luck sleep
there tonight and stay there tomorrow monday is
the first free day i have and on monday morning
at ten exactly meet me on greys bridge just out of the
town ill bring all the money i can muster you
shant wantill see that fanny then ill get you a
lodging somewhere goodbye till then i am a brute
  but goodbye
after advancing the distance which completed the
ascent of the hill bathsheba turned her head the
woman was upon her feet and bathsheba saw her
withdrawing from troy and going feebly down the
hill by the third milestone from casterbridge troy
then came on towards his wife stepped into the gig
took the reins from her hand and without making any
observation whipped the horse into a trot he was
rather agitated
do you know who that woman was said bath
sheba looking searchingly into his face
i do he said looking boldly back into hers
i thought you did said she with angry hauteur
and still regarding him  who is she
he suddenly seemed to think that frankness would
benefit neither of the women
nothing to either of us he said i know her
by sight
what is her name
how should i know her name 
i think you do
think if you will and be     the sentence was
completed by a smart cut of the whip round poppets
flank which caused the animal to start forward at a
wild pace no more was said
on casterbridge highway
for a considerable time the woman walked on her
steps became feebler and she strained her eyes to look
afar upon the naked road now indistinct amid the
penumbrae of night at length her onward walk
dwindled to the merest totter and she opened a gate
within which was a haystack underneath this she sat
down and presently slept
when the woman awoke it was to find herself in the
depths of a moonless and starless night a heavy un
broken crust of cloud stretched across the sky shutting
out every speck of heaven  and a distant halo which
hung over the town of casterbridge was visible against
the black concave the luminosity appearing the
brighter by its great contrast with the circumscribing
darkness towards this weak soft glow the woman
turned her eyes
if i could only get there she said meet him
the day after tomorrow god help me perhaps i
shall be in my grave before then
a manorhouse clock from the far depths of shadow
struck the hour one in a small attenuated tone after
midnight the voice of a clock seems to lose in breadth
as much as in length and to diminish its sonorousness
to a thin falsetto
afterwards a light  two lights  arose frona the re
mote shade and grew larger a carriage rolled along
the toad and passed the gate it probably contained
some late dinersout the beams from one lamp shone
for a moment upon the crouching woman and threw
her face into vivid relieff the face was young in the
groundwork old in the finish  the general contours
were flexuous and childlike but the finer lineaments
had begun to be sharp and thin
the pedestrian stood up apparently with revived
determination and looked around the road appeared
to be
familiar to her and she carefully scanned the fence
as she slowly walked along presently there became
visible a dim white shape it was another milestone
she drew her fingers across its face to feel the marks
two more she said
she leant against the stone as a means of rest for a
 short interval then bestirred herself and again pursued
her way for a slight distance she bore up bravely
afterwards flagging as before this was beside a lone
copsewood wherein heaps of white chips strewn upon
the leafy ground showed that woodmen had been
faggoting and making hurdles during the day now
there was not a rustle not a breeze not the faintest
clash of twigs to keep her company the woman
looked over the gat opened it and went in close
to the entrance stood a row of faggots bound and un
bound together with stakes of all sizes
for a few seconds the wayfarer stood with that tense
stillness which signifies itself to be not the end but
merely the suspension of a previous motion her
attitude was that of a person who listens either to the
external world of sound or to the imagined discourse of
thought a close criticism might have detected signs
proving that she was intent on the latter alternative
moreover as was shown by what followed she was
oddly exercising the faculty of invention upon the spe
ciality of the clever jacquet droz the designer of auto
matic substitutes for human limbs
by the aid of the casterbridge aurora and by feeling
with her hands the woman selected two sticks from the
heaps these sticks were nearly straight to the height
of three or four feet where each branched into a fork
like the letter y she sat down snapped off the small
upper twigs and carried the remainder with her into
the road she placed one of these forks under each
arm as a crutch tested them timidly threw her whole
weight upon them  so little that it was  and swung
herself forward the girl had made for herself a
material aid
the crutches answered well the pat of her feet
and the tap of her sticks upon the highway were all the
sounds that
came from the traveller now she had
passed the last milestone by a good long distance and
began to look wistfully towards the bank as if calculating
upon another milestone soon the crutches though
so very useful had their limits of power mechanism
only transfers labour being powerless to supersede it
and the original amount of exertion was not cleared
away it was thrown into the body and arms she was
exhausted and each swing forward became fainter at
last she swayed sideways and fell
here she lay a shapeless heap for ten minutes and
more the morning wind began to boom dully over
the flats and to move afresh dead leaves which had
lain still since yesterday the woman desperately
turned round upon her knees and next rose to her
feet steadying herself by the help of one crutch she
essayed a step then another then a third using the
crutches now as walkingsticks only thus she pro
gressed till descending mellstock hill another milestone
appeared and soon the beginning of an ironrailed fence
came into view she staggered across to the first post
clung to it and looked around
the casterbridge lights were now individually visible
it was getting towards morning and vehicles might be
hoped for if not expected soon she listened there
was not a sound of life save that acme and sublimation
of all dismal sounds the hark of a fox its three hollow
notes being rendered at intervals of a minute with the
precision of a funeral bell
less than a mile the woman murmured no
more she added after a pause the mile is to the
county hall and my restingplace is on the other side
casterbridge a little over a mile and there i am 
after an interval she again spoke five or six steps to
a yard  six perhaps i have to go seventeen hundred
yards a hundred times six six hundred seventeen
times that o pity me lord
holding to the rails she advanced thrusting one
hand forward upon the rail then the other then leaning
over it whilst she dragged her feet on beneath
this woman was not given to soliloquy but ex
tremity of feeling lessens the individuality of the weak
as it increases
that of the strong she said again in the
same tone ill believe that the end lies five posts for
ward and no further and so get strength to pass them
this was a practical application of the principle that
a halffeigned and fictitious faith is better than no faith
at all
she passed five posts and held on to the fifth
ill pass five more by believing my longedfor spot
is at the next fifth i can do it
she passed five more
it lies only five further
she passed five more
but it is five further
she passed them
that stone bridge is the end of my journey she
said when the bridge over the froom was in view
she crawled to the bridge during the effort each
breath of the woman went into the air as if never to
return again
now for the truth of the matter she said sitting
down the truth is that i have less than half a mile
selfbeguilement with what she had known all the time
to be false had given her strength to come over half
a mile that she would have been powerless to face in
the lump the artifice showed that the woman by
some mysterious intuition had grasped the paradoxical
truth that blindness may operate more vigorously than
prescience and the shortsighted effect more than the
farseeing  that limitation and not comprehensiveness
is needed for striking a blow
the halfmile stood now before the sick and weary
woman like a stolid juggernaut it was an impassive
king of her world the road here ran across durnover
moor open to the road on either side she surveyed
the wide space the lights herself sighed and lay down
against a guardstone of the bridge
never was ingenuity exercised so sorely as the
traveller here exercised hers every conceivable aid
mthod stratagem mechanism by which these last
desperate eight hundred yards could be overpasscd by a
human being unperceived was revolved in her busy
brain and dismissed as impracticable she thought of
sticks wheels crawling  she even thought of rolling
but the exertion demanded by either of these latter two
was greater than to walk erect the faculty of con
trivance was worn out hopelessness had come at
last
 no further she whispered and closed her eyes
from the stripe of shadow on the opposite side of
the bridge a portion of shade seemed to detach itself
and move into isolation upon the pale white of the road
it glided noiselessly towards the recumbent woman
she became conscious of something touching her
hand it was softness and it was warmth she
opened her eyes and the substance touched her face
a dog was licking her cheek
he was huge heavy and quiet creature standing
darkly against the low horizon and at least two feet
higher than the present position of her eyes whether
newfoundland mastiff bloodhound or what not it was
impossible to say he seemed to be of too strange and
mysterious a nature to belong to any variety among those
of popular nomenclature being thus assignable to no
breed he was the ideal embodiment of canine greatness
  a generalization from what was common to all night
in its sad solemn and benevolent aspect apart from its
stealthy and cruel side was personified in this form
darkness endows the small and ordinary ones among
mankind with poetical power and even the suffering
woman threw her idea nto figure
in her reclining position she looked up to him just
as in earlier times she had when standing looked up
to a man the animal who was as homeless as she
respectfully withdrew a step or two when the woman
moved and seeing that she did not repulse him he
licked her hand again
a thought moved within her like lightning perhaps
i can make use of himi might do it then
she pointed in the direction of casterbridge and
the dog seemed to misunderstand  he trotted on then
finding she could not follow he came back and whined
the ultimate and saddest singularity of womans effort
and invention was reached when with a quickened breath
ing she rose to a stooping posture and resting her two
little arms
upon the shoulders of the dog leant firmly
thereon and murmured stimulating words whilst she
sorrowed in her heart she cheered with her voice and
what was stranger than that the strong should need
encouragement from the weak was that cheerfulness
should be so well stimulated by such utter dejection
her friend moved forward slowly and she with small
mincing steps moved forward beside him half her
weight being thrown upon the animal sometimes
she sank as she had sunk from walking erect from
the crutches from the rails the dog who now
thoroughly understood her desire and her incapacity
was frantic in his distress on these occasions  he would
tug at her dress and run forward she always called
him back and it was now to be observed that the
woman listened for human sounds only to avoid them
it was evident that she had an object in keeping her
presence on the road and her forlorn state unknown
their progress was necessarily very slow they
reached the bottom of the town and the casterbridge
lamps lay before them like fallen pleiads as they turned
to the left into the dense shade of a deserted avenue of
chestnuts and so skirted the borough thus the town
was passed and the goal was reached
on this muchdesired spot outside the town rose a
picturesque building originally it had been a mere
case to hold people the shell had been so thin so
devoid of excrescence and so closely drawn over the
accommodation granted that the grim character of
what was beneath showed through it as the shape of
a body is visible under a windingsheet
then nature as if offended lent a hand masses
of ivy grew up completely covering the walls till the
place looked like an abbey and it was discovered that
the view from the front over the casterbridge chimneys
was one of the most magnificent in the county a
neighbouring earl once said that he would give up a
years rental to have at his own door the view enjoyed
by the inmates from theirs  and very probably the
inmates would have given up the view for his years
rental
this stone edifice consisted of a central mass and
two wings whereon stood as sentinels a few slim
chimneys now gurgling sorrowfully to the slow wind
in the wall was a gate and by the gate a belipull
formed of a hanging wire the woman raised herself
as high as possible upon her knees and could just
reach the handle she moved it and fell forwards in
a bowed attitude her face upon her bosom
it was getting on towards six oclock and sounds of
movement were to be heard inside the building which
was the haven of rest to this wearied soul a little door
by the large one was opened and a man appeared inside
he discerned the panting heap of clothes went back
for a light and came again he entered a second
time and returned with two women
these lifted the prostrate figure and assisted her in
through the doorway the man then closed the door
how did she get here  said one of the women
the lord knows said the other
there is a dog outside murmured the overcome
traveller  where is he gone  he helped me
i stoned him away said the man
the little procession then moved forward  the man
in front bearing the light the two bony women next
supporting between them the small and supple one
thus they entered the house and disappeared
suspicion
suspicion  fanny is sent for
bathsheba said very little to her husband all that
evening of their return from market and he was not
disposed to say much to her he exhibited the un
pleasant combination of a restless condition with a
silent tongue the next day which was sunday passed
nearly in the same manner as regarded their taciturnity
bathsheba going to church both morning and afternoon
this was the day before the budmouth races in the
evening troy said suddenly 
 bathsheba could you let me have twenty pounds 
her countenance instantly sank  twenty pounds 
she said
the fact is i want it badly the anxiety upon
troys face was unusual and very marked lt was a
culmination of the mood he had been in all the day
ah  for those races tomorrow
troy for the moment made no reply her mistake
had its advantages to a man who shrank from having
his mind inspected as he did now well suppose i
do want it for races  he said at last
o frank bathsheba replied and there was such
a volume of entreaty in the words only such a few
weeks ago you said that i was far sweeter than all your
other pleasures put together and that you would give
them all up for me and now wont you give up this
one which is more a worry than a pleasure do
frank come let me fascinate you by all i can do
  by pretty words and pretty looks and everything i
can think of  to stay at home say yes to your wife 
say yes
the tenderest and softest phases of bathshebas
nature were prominent now  advanced impulsively for
his acceptance without any of the disguises and defences
which the wariness of her character when she was cool
too frequently threw
over them few men could have
resisted the arch yet dignified entreaty of the beautiful
face thrown a little back and sideways in the weli
known attitude that expresses more than the words it
accompanies and which seems to have heen designed
for these special occasions had the woman not been
his wife troy would have succumbed instantly  as it
was he thought he would not deceive her longer
the money is not wanted for racing debts at all
he said
 what is it for  she asked  you worry me a great
deal by these mysterious responsibilities frank
troy hesitated he did not now love her enough
to allow himself to be carried too far by her ways yet
it was necessary to be civil you wrong me by such
a suspicious manner he said  such straitwaistcoating
as you treat me to is not becoming in you at so early a
date
i think that i have a right to grumble a little if i
pay she said with features between a smile and a
pout
exactly and the former being done suppose we
proceed to the latter bathsheba fun is all very well
but dont go too far or you may have cause to regret
something
she reddened  i do that already she said quickly
 what do you regret  
suspicion
that my romance has come to an end
 all romances end at marriage
i wish you wouldnt talk like that you grieve me
to my soul by being smart at my expense
 you are dull enough at mine i believe you hate
me
 not you  only your faults i do hate them
twould be much more becoming if you set your
self to cure them come lets strike a balance with
the twenty pounds and be friends
she gave a sigh of resignation i have about that
sum here for household expenses if you must have it
take it
very good thank you i expect i shall have
gone away before you are in to breakfast tomorrow
and must you go  ah  there was a time frank
when it would have taken a good many promises to
other people to drag you away from me you used to
call me darling then
but it doesnt matter to you how
my days are passed now
i must go in spite of sentiment troy as he
spoke looked at his watch and apparently actuated by
revealing snugly stowed within it a small coil of hair
bathshebas eyes had been accidentally lifted at that
moment and she saw the action and saw the hair she
flushed in pain and surprise and some words escaped
her before she had thought whether or not it was wise
to utter them a womans curl of hair  she said
o frank whose is that 
troy had instantly closed his watch he carelessly
replied as one who cloaked some feelings that the sight
had stirred  why yours of course whose should it
be  i had quite forgotten that i had it
 what a dreadful fib frank
 i tell you i had forgotten it he said loudly
i dont mean that  it was yellow hair
nonsense
thats insulting me i know it was yellow now
whose was it  i want to know
very weliill tell you so make no more ado it
is the hair of a young woman i was going to marry
before i knew you
 you ought to tell me her name then
i cannot do that
is she married yet
no
is she alive
 yes
is she pretty 
 yes
it is wonderful how she can be poor thing under
such an awful affliction
 affliction  what affliction   he inquired quickly
 having hair of that dreadful colour
 oh  hoi like that said troy recovering him
self why her hair has been admired by everybody
who has seen her since she has worn it loose which has
not been long it is
beautiful hair people used to
turn their heads to look at it poor girl
pooh thats nothing  thats nothing she ex
claimed in incipient accents of pique if i cared for
your love as much as i used to i could say people had
turned to look at mine
bathsheba dont be so fitful and jealous you
knew what married life would be like and shouldnt
have entered it if you feared these contingencies
troy had by this time driven her to bitterness her
heart was big in her throat and the ducts to her eyes
were painfully full ashamed as she was to show
emotion at last she burst out 
this is all i get for loving you so well ah when
i married you your life was dearer to me than my own
i would have died for you  how truly i can say that i
would have died for you and now you sneer at my
foolishness in marrying you o is it kind to me to
throw my mistake in my face  whatever opinion you
may have of my wisdom you should not tell me of it so
mercilessly now that i am in your power
 i cant help how things fall out said troy upon
my heart women will be the death of me
well you shouldnt keep peoples hair youll
burn it wont you frank
frank went on as if he had not heard her there
are considerations even before my consideration for you
reparations to be made  ties you know nothing of if
you repent of marrying so do i
trembling now she put her hand upon his arm
saying in mingled tones of wretchedness and coaxing
i only repent it if you dont love me better than any
woman in the world i dont otherwise frank you
dont repent because you already love somebody better
than you love me do you 
i dont know why do you say that
you wont burn that curl you like the woman
who owns that pretty hair  yes it is pretty  more
beautiful than my miserable black mane well it is
no use i cant help being ugly you must like her
best if you will
until today when i took it from a drawer i have
never looked upon that bit of hair for several months 
that i am ready to swear
but just now you said ties and then  that
woman we met
twas the meeting with her that reminded me of
the hair
is it hers then 
yes there now that you have wormed it out of
me i hope you are content
and what are the ties 
oh that meant nothing  a mere jest
a mere jest   she said in mournful astonishment
can you jest when i am so wretchedly in earnest 
tell me the truth frank i am not a fool you know
although i am a woman and have my womans moments
come treat me fairly she said looking honestly and
fearlessly into his face i dont want much bare
justice  thats all ah once i felt i could be content
with nothing less than the highest homage from the
husband i should choose now anything short of
cruelty will content me yes the independent and
spirited bathsheba is come to this
for heavens sake dont be so desperate troy
said snappishly rising as he did so and leaving the
room
directly he had gone bathsheba burst into great
sobs  dryeyed sobs which cut as they came without
any softening by tears but she determined to repress
all evidences of feeling she was conquered but she
would never own it as long as she lived her pride
was indeed brought low by despairing discoveries of her
spoliation by marriage with a less pure nature than her
own she chafed to and fro in rebelliousness like a
caged leopard her whole soul was in arms and the
blood fired her face until she had met troy bath
sheba had heen proud of her position as a woman it
had been a glory to her to know that her lips had been
touched hy no mans on earth  that her waist had
never been encircled by a lovers arm she hated
herself now in those earlier days she had always
nourished a secret contempt for girls who were the
slaves of the first goodiooking young fellow who should
choose to salute them she had never taken kindly to
the idea of
marriage in the abstract as did the majority
of women she saw about her in the turmoil of her
anxiety for her lover she had agreed to marry him but
the perception that had accompanied her happiest hours
on this account was rather that of selfsacrifice than of
promotion and honour although she scarcely knew
the divinitys name diana was the goddess whom
bathsheba instinctively adored that she had never
by look word or sign encouraged a man to approach
her  that she had felt herself sufficient to herself and
had in the independence of her girlish heart fancied
there was a certain degradation in renouncing the
simplicity of a maiden existence to become the humbler
half of an indifferent matrimonial whole  were facts
now bitterly remembered o if she had never
stooped to folly of this kind respectable as it was and
could only stand again as she had stood on the hill at
norcombe and dare troy or any other man to pollute
a hair of her head by his interference
the next morning she rose earlier than usual and
had the horse saddled for her ride round the farm in
the customary way when she came in at halfpast
eight  their usual hour for breakfasting  she was in
formed that her husband had risen taken his breakfast
and driven off to casterbridge with the gig and poppet
after breakfast she was cool and collected  quite
herself in fact  and she rambled to the gate intending
to walk to another quarter of the farm which she still
personally superintended as well as her duties in the
house would permit continually however finding her
self preceded in forethought by gabriel oak for whom
she began to entertain the genuine friendship of a sister
of course she sometimes thought of him in the light of
an old lover and had momentary imaginings of what
life with him as a husband would have been like also
of life with boldwood under the same conditions but
bathsheba though she could feel was not much given
to futile dreaming and her musings under this head
were short and entirely confined to the times when
troys neglect was more than ordinarily evident
she saw coming up the road a man like mr boldwood
it was mr boldwood bathsheba blushed painfully
and watched the farmer stopped when still a long
way off and held up his hand to gabriel oak who was
in a footpath across the field the two men then
approached each other and seemed to engage in
earnest conversation
thus they continued for a long time joseph poor
grass now passed near them wheeling a barrow of apples
up the hill to bathshebas residence boldwood and
gabriel called to him spoke to him for a few minutes
and then all three parted joseph immediately coming
up the hill with his barrow
bathsheba who had seen this pantomime with some
surprise experienced great relief when boldwood turned
back again well whats the message joseph   she
said
he set down his barrow and putting upon himself
the refined aspect that a conversation with a lady re
quired spoke to bathsheba over the gate
youll never see fanny robin no more  use nor
principaimaam
 why 
because shes dead in the union
 fanny dead  never
 yes maam
 what did she die from 
i dont know for certain but i should be inclined
to think it was from general neshness of constitution
she was such a limber maid that a could stand no
hardship even when i knowed her and a went like a
candlesnoff so tis said she was took bad in the
morning and being quite feeble and worn out she
died in the evening she belongs by law to our parish
and mr boldwood is going to send a waggon at three
this afternoon to fetch her home here and bury her
indeed i shall not let mr boldwood do any such
thingi shall do it fanny was my uncles servant
and although i only knew her for a couple of days
fanny is sent for
she belongs to me how very very sad this is 
the idea of fanny being in a workhouse bathsheba
had begun to know what suffering was and she spoke
with real feeling send across to mr boldwoods
and say that mrs troy will take upon herself the duty
of fetching an old servant of the family we
ought not to put her in a waggon well get a hearse
 there will hardly be time maam will there
 perhaps not she said musingly  when did you
say we must be at the door  three oclock
 three oclock this afternoon maam so to speak it
very weliyou go with it a pretty waggon is
better than an ugly hearse after all joseph have the
new spring waggon with the blue body and red wheels
and wash it very clean and joseph    
 yes maam
 carry with you some evergreens and flowers to put
upon her coffin   indeed gather a great many and
completely bury her in them get some boughs of
laurustinus and variegated box and yew and boysiove
ay and some hunches of chrysanthemum and let old
pleasant draw her because she knew him so well
i will maam i ought to have said that the
union in the form of four labouring men will meet me
when i gets to our churchyard gate and take her and
bury her according to the rites of the board of guardians
as by law ordained
 dear me  casterbridge union  and is fanny come
to this said bathsheba musing i wish i had known
of it sooner i thought she was far away how long
has she lived there
ony been there a day or two
oh  then she has not been staying there as a
regular inmate
 no she first went to live in a garrisontown tother
side o wessex and since then shes been picking up a
living at seampstering in melchester for several months
at the house of a very respectable widowwoman who
takes in work of that sort she only got handy the
unionhouse on sunday morning a blieve and tis sup
posed here and there that she had traipsed every step
of the way from melchester why she left her place
i cant say for i dont know and as to a lie why i
wouldnt tell it thats the short of the story maam
ahh  
no gem ever flashed from a rosy ray to a white one
more rapidly than changed the young wifes counten
ance whilst this word came from her in a longdrawn
breath did she walk along our turnpikeroad she
said in a suddenly restless and eager voice
i believe she did maam shall i call liddy
you baint well maam surely  you look like a lily 
so pale and fainty
no dont call her it is nothing when did she
pass weatherbury
last saturday night
that will do joseph now you may go
 certainly maam
 joseph come hither a moment what was the
colour of fanny robins hair
really mistress now that tis put to me so judge
andjury like i cant call to mind if yell believe me
never mind go on and do what i told you stop
  well no go on
she turned herself away from him that he might no
longer notice the mood which had set its sign so visibly
upon her and went indoors with a distressng sense of
faintness and a beating brow about an hour after she
heard the noise of the waggon and went out still with a
painful consciousness of her bewildered and troubled
look joseph dressed in his best suit of clothes was
putting in the horse to start the shrubs and flowers
were all piled in the waggon as she had directed
bathsheba hardly saw them now
 whose sweetheart did you say joseph
i dont know maam
are you quite sure
 yes maam quite sure
sure of what
im sure that all i know is that she arrived in the
morning and died in the evening without further parley
what oak and mr boldwood told me was only these
few words little fanny robin is dead joseph
gabriel said looking in my face in his steady old way
i was very sorry and i said ah  and how did she
come to die well shes dead in casterhridge
union he said and perhaps tisnt much matter
about how she came to die she reached the union
early sunday morning and died in the afternoon  thats
clear enough then i asked what shed been doing
lately and mr boldwood turned round to me then and
left off spitting a thistle with the end of his stick he
told me about her having lived by seampstering in
melchester as i mentioned to you and that she walked
therefrom at the end of last week passing near here
saturday night in the dusk they then said i had
better just name a hent of her death to you and away
they went her death might have been brought on by
biding in the night wind you know maam for people
used to say shed go off in a decline she used to cough
a good deal in winter time however tisnt much
odds to us about that now for tis all over
have you heard a different story at all she
looked at him so intently that josephs eyes quailed
not a word mistress i assure ee he said
hardly anybody in the parish knows the news yet
i wonder why gabriel didnt bring the message to
me himself he mostly makes a point of seeing me
upon the most trifling errand these words were
merely murmured and she was looking upon the ground
perhaps he was busy maam joseph suggested
and sometimes he seems to suffer from things upon
his mind connected with the time when he was better
off than a is now as rather a curious item but a
very understanding shepherd and learned in books
did anything seem upon his mind whilst he was
speaking to you about this
i cannot but say that there did maam he was
terrible down and so was farmer boldwood
thank you joseph that will do go on now
or youll be late
bathsheba still unhappy went indoors again in
the course of the afternoon she said to liddy who had
been informed of the occurrence  what was the colour
of poor fanny robins hair do you know i cannot
recollecti only saw her for a day or two
it was light maam but she wore it rather short
and packed away under her cap so that you would
hardly notice it but i have seen her let it down when
she was going to bed and it looked beautiful then
real golden hair
 her young man was a soldier was he not
yes in the same regiment as mr troy he says
he knew him very well
 what mr troy says so how came he to say
that
one day i just named it to him and asked him if
he knew fannys young man he said o yes he
knew the young man as well as he knew himself and
that there wasnt a man in the regiment he liked
better
ah said that did he 
yes and he said there was a strong likeness be
tween himself and the other young man so that some
times people mistook them    
 liddy for heavens sake stop your talking said
bathsheba with the nervous petulance that comes from
worrying perceptions
joseph and his burden
joseph and his burden  bucks head
a wall bounded the site of casterbridge union
house except along a portion of the end here a high
gable stood prominent and it was covered like the front
with a mat of ivy in this gable was no window
chimney ornament or protuberance of any kind the
single feature appertaining to it beyond the expanse of
dark green leaves was a small door
the situation of the door was peculiar the sill
was three or four feet above the ground and for a
moment one was at a loss for an explanation of this
exceptional altitude till ruts immediately beneath sug
gested that the door was used solely for the passage of
articles and persons to and from the level of a vehicle
standing on the outside upon the whole the door
seemed to advertise itself as a species of traitors gate
translated to another sphere that entry and exit
hereby was only at rare intervals became apparent on
noting that tufts of grass were allowed to flourish undis
turbed in the chinks of the sill
as the clock over the southstreet almshouse pointed
to five minutes to three a blue spring waggon picked
out with red and containing boughs and flowers passed
the end of the street and up towards this side of the
building whilst the chimes were yet stammering out
a shattered form of malbrook joseph poorgrass rang
the bell and received directions to back his waggon
against the high door under the gable the door then
opened and a plain elm coffin was slowly thrust forth
and laid by two men in fustian along the middle of the
vehicle
one of the men then stepped up beside it took from
his pocket a lump of chalk and wrote upon the cover
the name and a few other words in a large scrawling
hand we believe that they do these things more
tenderly now and provide a
plate he covered the
whole with a black cloth threadbare but decent the
taiiboard of the waggon was returned to its place one
of the men handed a certificate of registry to poorgrass
and both entered the door closing it hehind them
their connection with her short as it had been was
over for ever
joseph then placed the flowers as enjoined and the
evergreens around the flowers till it was difficult to
divine what the waggon contained he smacked his
whip and the rather pleasing funeral car crept down
the hill and along the road to weatherbury
the afternoon drew on apace and looking to the
right towards the sea as he walked beside the horse poor
grass saw strange clouds and scrolls of mist rolling over
the long ridges which girt the landscape in that quarter
they came in yet greater volumes and indolently crept
across the intervening valleys and around the withered
papery flags of the moor and river brinks then their
dank spongy forms closed in upon the sky it was
a sudden overgrowth of atmospheric fungi which had
their roots in the neighbouring sea and by the time
that horse man and corpse entered yalbury great
wood these silent workings of an invisible hand had
reached them and they were completely enveloped
this being the first arrival of the autumn fogs and the
first fog of the series
the air was as an eye suddenly struck blind the
waggon and its load rolled no longer on the horizontal
division between clearness and opacity but were
imbedded in an elastic body of a monotonous pallor
throughout there was no perceptible motion in the
air not a visible drop of water fell upon a leaf of the
beeches birches and firs composing the wood on either
side the trees stood in an attitude of intentness as if
they waited longingly for a wind to come and rock
them a startling quiet overhung all surrounding things
  so completely that the crunching of the waggon
wheels was as a great noise and small rustles which
had never ohtained a hearing except by night were dis
tinctly individualized
joseph poorgrass looked round upon his sad burden
as it loomed faintly through the flowering laurustinus
then at the
unfathomable gloom amid the high trees on
each hand indistinct shadowless and spectreiike in
their monochrome of grey he felt anything but cheer
ful and wished he had the company even of a child or
dog stopping the home he listened not a footstep
or wheel was audible anywhere around and the dead
silence was broken only by a heavy particle falling from
a tree through the evergreens and alighting with a smart
rap upon the coffin of poor fanny the fog had by
this time saturated the trees and this was the first
dropping of water from the overbrimming leaves the
hollow echo of its fall reminded the waggoner painfully
of the grim leveller then hard by came down another
drop then two or three presently there was a continual
tapping of these heavy drops upon the dead leaves the
road and the travellers the nearer boughs were beadcd
with the mist to the greyness of aged men and the rusty
red leaves of the beeches were hung with similar drops
like diamonds on auburn hair
at the roadside hamlet called roytown just beyond
this wood was the old inn bucks head it was about
a mile and a half from weatherbury and in the meridian
times of stagecoach travelling had been the place
where many coaches changed and kept their relays
of horses all the old stabling was now pulled down
and little remained besides the habitable inn itself
which standing a little way back from the road sig
nified its existence to people far up and down the
highway by a sign hanging from the horizontal bough
of an elm on the opposite side of the way
travellers   for the variety tourist had hardly
developed into a distinct species at this date  some
times said in passing when they cast their eyes up to
the signbearing tree that artists were fond of repre
senting the signboard hanging thus but that they
themselves had never before noticed so perfect an
instance in actual working order it was near this tree
that the waggon was standing into which gabriel oak
crept on his first journey to weatherbury but owing
to the darkness the sign and the inn had been un
observed
the manners of the inn were of the oldestablished
type indeed in the minds of its frequenters they
existed as unalterable formule  eg 
rap with the bottom of your pint for more liquor
for tobacco shout
in calling for the girl in waiting say maid
ditto for the landlady old soul etc etc
it was a relief to josephs heart when the friendly
signboard came in view and stopping his horse
immediately beneath it he proceeded to fulfil an
intention made a long time before his spirits were
oozing out of him quite he turned the horses head
to the green bank and entered the hostel for a mug
of ale
going down into the kitchen of the inn the floor
of which was a step below the passage which in its
bucks head
turn was a step below the road outside what should
joseph see to gladden his eyes but two coppercoloured
discs in the form of the countenances of mr jan
coggan and mr mark clark these owners of the
two most appreciative throats in the neighbourhood
within the pale of respectability were now sitting face
to face over a threeiegged circular table having an
iron rim to keep cups and pots from being accidentally
elbowed off they might have been said to resemble
the setting sun and the full moon shining visavis
across the globe
 why tis neighbour poorgrass said mark clark
im sure your face dont praise your mistresss table
joseph
ive had a very pale companion for the last four
miles said joseph indulging in a shudder toned
down by resignation and to speak the truth twas
beginning to tell upon me i assure ye i hant seed
the colour of victuals or drink since breakfast time
this morning and that was no more than a dewbit
afield
then drink joseph and dont restrain yourself
said coggan handing him a hooped mug three
quarters full
joseph drank for a moderately long time then for
a longer time saying as he lowered the jug tis
pretty drinking  very
pretty drinking and is more
than cheerful on my melancholy errand so to speak it
true drink is a pleasant delight said jan as one
who repeated a truism so familiar to his brain that he
hardly noticed its passage over his tongue  and
lifting the cup coggan tilted his head gradually
backwards with closed eyes that his expectant soul
might not be diverted for one instant from its bliss
by irrelevant surroundings
well i must be on again said poorgmss not
but that i should like another nip with ye but the
parish might lose confidence in me if i was seed
here
 where be ye trading ot to today then joseph 
back to weatherbury ive got poor little fanny
robin in my waggon outside and i must be at the
churchyard gates at a quarter to five with her
ayive heard of it and so shes nailed up in
parish boards after all and nobody to pay the bell
shilling and the grave halfcrown
the parish pays the grave halfcrown but not the
bell shilling because the bells a luxery but a can
hardly do without the grave poor body however i
expect our mistress will pay all
a pretty maid as ever i see but whats yer hurry
joseph  the pore womans dead and you cant bring
her to life and you may as well sit down comfortable
and finish another with us
i dont mind taking just the least thimbleful ye
can dream of more with ye sonnies but only a few
minutes because tis as tis
of course youll have another drop a mans
twice the man afterwards you feel so warm and
glorious and you whop and slap at your work without
any trouble and everything goes on like sticks a
breaking too much liquor is bad and leads us to
that horned man in the smoky house  but after all
many people havent the gift of enjoying a wet and
since we be highly favoured with a power that way
we should make the most ot
true said mark clark tis a talent the lord
has mercifully bestowed upon us and we ought not
to neglect it but what with the parsons and clerks
and schooipeople and serious teaparties the merry
old ways of good life have gone to the dogs  upon
my carcase they have
 well really i must be onward again now said
joseph
now now joseph nonsense the poor woman
is dead isnt she and whats your hurry
well i hope providence wont be in a way with
me for my doings said joseph again sitting down
ive been troubled with weak moments lately tis
true ive been drinky once this month already and
i did not go to church asunday and i dropped a
curse or two yesterday so i dont want to go too far
for my safety your next world is your next world
and not to be squandered offhand
i believe ye to be a chapeimember joseph that
i do
oh no no i dont go so far as that
 for my part said coggan im staunch church
of england
 ay and faith so be i said mark clark
i wont say much for myself i dont wish to
coggan continued with that tendency to talk on
principles which is characteristic of the barleycorn
but ive never changed a single doctrine  ive stuck
like a plaster to the old faith i was born in yes
theres this to be said for the church a man can
belong to the church and bide in his cheerful old
inn and never trouble or worry his mind about
doctrines at all but to be a meetinger you must
go to chapel in all winds and weathers and make
yerself as frantic as a skit not but that chapei
members be clever chaps enough in their way they
can lift up beautiful prayers out of their own heads all
about their families and shipwmcks in the newspaper
they can  they can said mark clark with cor
roborative feeling  but we churchmen you see must
have it all printed aforehand or dang it all we should
no more know what to say to a great gaffer like the
lord than babes unborn
 chapeifolk be more handinglove with them above
than we said joseph thoughtfully
 yes said coggan  we know very well that if
anybody do go to heaven they will theyve worked
hard for it and they
deserve to have it such as tis
i baint such a fool as to pretend that we who stick
to the church have the same chance as they because
we know we have not but i hate a feller wholl
change his old ancient doctrines for the sake of getting
to heaven id as soon turn kingsevidence for the
few pounds you get why neighbours when every
one of my taties were frosted our parson thirdly
were the man who gave me a sack for seed though
he hardly had one for his own use and no money to
buy em if it hadnt been for him i shouldnt hae
had a tatie to put in my garden dye think id
turn after that no ill stick to my side and if we
be in the wrong so be it  ill fall with the fallen  
 well said  very well said observed joseph 
 however folks i must be moving now upon my life
i must pason thirdly will be waiting at the church
gates and theres the woman abiding outside in the
waggon
 joseph poorgmss dont be so miserable pason
thirdly wont mind hes a generous man  hes found
me in tracts for years and ive consumed a good many
in the course of a long and shady life but hes never
been the man to cry out at the expense sit down
the longer joseph poorgrass remained the less his
spirit was troubled by the duties which devolved upon
him this afternoon the minutes glided by uncounted
until the evening shades began perceptibly to deepen
and the eyes of the three were but sparkling points
on the surface of darkness coggans repeater struck
six from his pocket in the usual still small tones
at that moment hasty steps were heard in the entry
and the door opened to admit the figure of gabriel oak
followed by the maid of the inn bearing a candle he
stared sternly at the one lengthy and two round faces
of the sitters which confronted him with the expressions
of a fiddle and a couple of warmingpans joseph poor
grass blinked and shrank several inches into the back
ground
 upon my soul im ashamed of you  tis disgraceful
joseph disgraceful  said gabriel indignantly  coggan
you call yourself a man and dont know better than this
coggan looked up indefinitely at oak one or other
of his eyes occasionally opening and closing of its own
accord as if it were not a member but a dozy individual
with a distinct personality
 dont take on so shepherd said mark clark
looking reproachfully at the candle which appeared
to possess special features of interest for his eyes
nobody can hurt a dead woman at length said
coggan with the precision of a machine all that
could be done for her is done  shes beyond us  and
why should a man put himself in a tearing hurry for
lifeless clay that can neither feel nor see and dont
know what you do with her at all if shed been
alive i would have been the first to help her if she
now wanted victuals and drink id pay for it money
down but shes dead and no speed of ours will
bring her to life the womans past us  time spent
upon her is throwed away why should we hurry to
do whats not required  drink shepherd and be
friends for tomorrow we may be like her
 we may added mark clark emphatically at once
drinking himself to run no further risk of losing his
chance by the event alluded to jan meanwhile merging
his additional thoughts of tomorrow in a song  
tomorrow tomorrow 
and while peace and plenty i find at my board
with a heart free from sickness and sorrow
with my friends will i share what today may afford
and let them spread the table tomorrow
tomor  row tomor  
do hold thy horning jan said oak and turning
upon poorgrass  as for you joseph who do your wicked
deeds in such confoundedly holy ways you are as drunk
as you can stand
no shepherd oak no listen to reason shepherd
all thats the matter with me is the affliction called a
multiplying eye and thats how it is i look double to
youi mean you look double to me
a multiplying eye is a very bad thing said mark
clark
it always comes on when i have been in a public 
house a little time said joseph poorgrass meekly
yes i see two of every sort as if i were some holy
man living in the times of king noah and entering
into the ark yyyyes he added becoming much
affected by the picture of himself as a person thrown
away and shedding tears i feel too good for england 
i ought to have lived in genesis by rights like the other
men of sacrifice and then i shouldnt have bbbeen
called a dddrunkard in such a way
i wish youd show yourself a man of spirit and not
sit whining there
show myself a man of spirit   ah well let
me take the name of drunkard humblyiet me be a
man of contrite kneesiet it be  l know that i always
do say please god afore i do anything from my
getting up to my going down of the same and i be
willing to take as much disgrace as there is in that
holy act hah yes  but not a man of spirit 
have i ever allowed the toe of pride to be lifted
against my hinder parts without groaning manfully that
i question the right to do so i inquire that query
boldly
 we cant say that you have hero poorgrass
admitted jan
never have i allowed such treatment to pass un
questioned yet the shepherd says in the face of that
rich testimony that i be not a man of spirit well
let it pass by and death is a kind friend 
gabriel seeing that neither of the three was in a fit
state to cake charge of the waggon for the remainder of
the journey made no reply but closing the door again
upon them went across to where the vehicle stood now
getting indistinct in the fog and gloom of this mildewy
time he pulled the horses head from the large patch
of turf it had eaten bare readjusted the boughs over
the coffin and drove along through the unwholesome
night
it had gradually become rumoured in the village
that the body to be brought and buried that day was
all that was left of the unfortunate fanny robin who
had followed the eleventh from casterbridge through
melchester and onwards but
thanks to boldwoods
reticence and oaks generosity the lover she had followed
had never been individualized as troy gabriel hoped
that the whole truth of the matter might not be published
till at any rate the girl had been in her grave for a few
days when the interposing barriers of earth and time
and a sense that the events had been somewhat shut
into oblivion would deaden the sting that revelation and
invidious remark would have for bathsheba just now
by the time that gabriel reached the old manor
house her residence which lay in his way to the church
it was quite dark a man came from the gate and said
through the fog which hung between them like blown
flour 
is that poorgrass with the corpse
gabriel recognized the voice as that of the parson
 the corpse is here sir said gabriel
i have just been to inquire of mrs troy if she could
tell me the reason of the delay i am afraid it is too
late now for the funeral to be performed with proper
decency have you the registrars certificate  
 no said gabriel i expect poorgrass has that 
and hes at the bucks head i forgot to ask him
for it
then that settles the matter well put off the
funeral till tomorrow morning the body may be
brought on to the church or it may be left here at
the farm and fetched by the bearers in the morning
they waited more than an hour and have now gone
home
gabriel had his reasons for thinking the latter a
most objectionable plan notwithstanding that fanny
had been an inmate of the farmhouse for several years
in the lifetime of bathshebas uncle visions of several
unhappy contingencies which might arise from this delay
flitted before him but his will was not law and he
went indoors to inquire of his mistress what were her
wishes on the subject he found her in an unusual
mood  her eyes as she looked up to him were suspicious
and perplexed as with some antecedent thought troy
had not yet returned at first bathsheba assented with
a mien of indifference to his proposition that they should
go on to the church at once with their burden but
immediately
afterwards following gabriel to the gate
she swerved to the extreme of solicitousness on fannys
account and desired that the girl might be brought into
the house oak argued upon the convenience of leaving
her in the waggon just as she lay now with her flowers
and green leaves about her merely wheeling the vehicle
into the coachhouse till the morning but to no purpose
it is unkind and unchristian she said to leave the
poor thing in a coachhouse all night
very well then said the parson and i will
arrange that the funeral shall take place early to
morrow perhaps mrs troy is right in feeling that we
cannot treat a dead fellowcreature too thoughtfully
we must remember that though she may have erred
grievously in leaving her home she is still our sister 
and it is to be believed that gods uncovenanted
mercies are extended towards her and that she is a
member of the flock of christ
the parsons words spread into the heavy air with a
sad yet unperturbed cadence and gabriel shed an
honest tear bathsheba seemed unmoved mr
thirdly then left them and gabriel lighted a lantern
fetching three other men to assist him they bore the
unconscious truant indoors placing the coffin on two
benches in the middle of a little sittingroom next the
hall as bathsheba directed
every one except gabriel oak then left the room
he still indecisively lingered beside the body he was
deeply troubled at the wretchedly ironical aspect that
circumstances were putting on with regard to troys
wife and at his own powerlessness to counteract them
n spite of his careful manoeuvring all this day the very
worst event that could in any way have happened in
connection with the burial had happened now oak
imagined a terrible discovery resulting from this after
noons work that might cast over bathshebas life a shade
which the interposition of many lapsing years might but
indifferently lighten and which nothing at all might
altogether remove
suddenly as in a last attempt to save bathsheba
from at any rate immediate anguish he looked again
as he had looked before at the chalk writing upon the
coffinlid the scrawl was this simple one  fanny
robin and child gabriel took his handkerchief and
carefully rubbed out the two latter words leaving visible
the inscription  fanny robin  only he then left the
room and went out quietly by the front door
fannys revenge
 do you want me any longer maam   inquired liddy
at a later hour the same evening standing by the door
with a chamber candlestick in her hand and addressing
bathsheba who sat cheerless and alone in the large
parlour beside the first fire of the season
 no more tonight liddy
lll sit up for master if you like maam i am not
at all afraid of fanny if i may sit in my own room and 
have a candle she was such a childlike nesh young
thing that her spirit couldnt appear to anybody if it
tried im quite sure
o no no you go to bed ill sit up for him
myself till twelve oclock and if he has not arrived by
that time i shall give him up and go to bed too
it is halfpast ten now
oh is it
why dont you sit upstairs maam  
 why dont i   said bathsheba desultorily it
isn t worth while  theres a fire here liddy she
suddenly exclaimed in an impulsive and excited whisper
have you heard anything strange said of fanny
the words had no sooner escaped her than an expres
sion of unutterable regret crossed her face and she
burst into tears
no  not a word  said liddy looking at the
weeping woman with astonishment what is it makes
you cry so maam has anything hurt you   she came
to bathshebas side with a face full of sympathy
 no liddyi dont want you any more i can
hardly say why i have taken to crying lately i never
used to cry goodnight
liddy then left the parlour and closed the door
bathsheba was lonely and miserable now  not lone
lier actually than she had heen before her marriage
but her loneliness then was to that of the present time
as the solitude of a mountain is to the solitude of a
cave and within the last day or two had come these
disquieting thoughts about her husbands past her
wayward sentiment that evening concerning fannys
temporary restingplace had been the result of a strange
complication of impulses in bathshebas bosom per
haps it would be more accurately described as a
determined rebellion against her prejudices a revulsion
from a lower instinct of uncharitableness which would
have withheld all sympathy from the dead woman be
cause in life she had preceded bathsheba in the atten
tions of a man whom bathsheba had by no means
ceased from loving though her love was sick to death
just now with the gravity of a further misgiving
in five or ten minutes there was another tap at the
door liddy reappeared and coming in a little way
stood hesitating until at length she said maryann has
just heard something very strange but i know it isnt
true and we shall be sure to know the rights of it in
a day or two
what is it 
 oh nothing connected with you or us maam it
is about fanny that same thing you have heard
i have heard nothing
i mean that a wicked story is got to weatherbury
within this last hour  that     liddy came close to
her mistress and whispered the remainder of the sentence
slowly into her ear inclining her head as she spoke in
the direction of the room where fanny lay
bathsheba trembled from head to foot
i dont believe it   she said excitedly and
theres only one name written on the coffincover
nor i maam and a good many others dont
for we should surely have been told more about it if it
had been true  dont you think so maam  
we might or we might not
bathsheba turned and looked into the fire that
liddy might not see her
face finding that her mistress
was going to say no more liddy glided out closed the
door softly and went to bed
bathshebas face as she continued looking into the
fire that evening might have excited solicitousness on
her account even among those who loved her least
the sadness of fanny robins fate did not make bath
shebas glorious although she was the esther to this
poor vashti and their fates might be supposed to stand
in some respects as contrasts to each other when
liddy came into the room a second time the beautiful
eyes which met hers had worn a listless weary look
when she went out after telling the story they had ex
pressed wretchedness in full activity her simple
country nature fed on oldfashioned principles was
troubled by that which would have troubled a woman
of the world very little both fanny and her child if she
had one being dead
bathsheba had grounds for conjecturing a connection
between her own history and the dimly suspected
tragedy of fannys end which oak and boldwood never
for a moment credited her with possessing the
meeting with the lonely woman on the previous saturday
night had been unwitnessed and unspoken of oak
may have had the best of intentions in withholding for
as many days as possible the details of what had
happened to fanny  but had he known that bathshebas
perceptions had already been exercised in the matter
he would have done nothing to lengthen the minutes of
suspense she was now undergoing when the certainty
which must terminate it would be the worst fact suspected
after all
she suddenly felt a longing desire to speak to some
one stronger than herself and so get strength to sustain
her surmised position with dignity and her carking
doubts with stoicism where could she find such a
friend nowhere in the house she was by far the
coolest of the women under her roof patience and
suspension of judgement for a few hours were what she
wanted to learn and there was nobody to teach her
might she but go to gabriel oak   but that could not
be what a way oak had she thought of enduring
things boldwood who seemed so much deeper and
higher and stronger in
feeling than gabriel had not
yet learnt any more than she herself the simple
lesson which oak showed a mastery of by every turn
and look he gave  that among the multitude of interests
by which he was surrounded those which affected his
personal welibeing were not the most absorbing and
important in his eyes oak meditatively looked upon
the horizon of circumstances without any special regard
to his own standpoint in the midst that was how
she would wish to be but then oak was not racked
by incertitude upon the inmost matter of his bosom as
she was at this moment oak knew all about fanny
that he wished to know  she felt convinced of that
if she were to go to him now at once and say no more
than these few words what is the truth of the story
he would feel bound in honour to tell her it would
be an inexpressible relief no further speech would
need to be uttered he knew her so well that no
eccentricity of behaviour in her would alarm him
she flung a cloak roundher went to the door and
opened it every blade every twig was still the air
was yet thick with moisture though somewhat less dense
than during the afternoon and a steady smack of drops
upon the fallen leaves under the boughs was almost
musical in its soothing regularity lt seemed better to
be out of the house than within it and bathsheba closed
the door and walked slowly down the lane till she came
opposite to gabriels cottage where he now lived alone
having left coggans house through being pinched for
room there was a light in one window only and that
was downstairs the shutters were not closed nor was
any blind or curtain drawn over the window neither
robbery nor observation being a contingency which could
do much injury to the occupant of the domicile yes
it was gabriel himself who was sitting up  he was reading
from her standingplace in the road she could see him
plainly sitting quite still his light curly head upon his
hand and only occasionally looking up to snuff the
candle which stood beside him at length he looked
at the clock seemed surprised at the lateness of the
hour closed his book and arose he was going to bed
she knew and if she tapped it must be done at once
alas for her resolve  she felt she could not do it
not for worlds now could she give a hint about her
misery to him much less ask him plainly for information
on the cause of fannys death she must suspect and
guess and chafe and bear it all alone
like a homeless wanderer she lingered by the bank
as if lulled and fascinated by the atmosphere of content
which seemed to spread from that little dwelling and
was so sadly lacking in her own gabriel appeared in
an upper room placed his light in the windowbench
and then  knelt down to pray the contrast of the
picture with her rebellious and agitated existence at this
same time was too much for her to bear to look upon
longer it was not for her to make a truce with
trouble by any such means she must tread her giddy
distracting measure to its last note as she had begun it
with a swollen heart she went again up the lane and
entered her own door
more fevered now by a reaction from the first feelings
which oaks example had raised in her she paused in
the hall looking at the door of the room wherein fanny
lay she locked her fingers threw back her head and
strained her hot hands rigidly across her forehead saying
with a hysterical sob would to god you would speak
and tell me your secret fanny     o i hope hope
it is not true that there are two of you   if i could
only look in upon you for one little minute i should
know all  
a few moments passed and she added slowly and
i will
bathsheba in after times could never gauge the mood
which carried her through the actions following this
murmured resolution on this memorable evening of her
life she went to the lumbercloset for a screwdriver
at the end of a short though undefined time she found
herself in the small room quivering with emotion a mist
before her eyes and an excruciating pulsation in her
brain standing beside the uncovered coffin of the girl
whose conjectured end had so entirely engrossed her and
saying to herself in a husky voice as she gazed within 
it was best to know the worst and i know it now
she was conscious of having brought about this
situation by a series of actions done as by one in an
extravagant dream  of following that idea as to method
which had burst upon her in the hall with glaring
obviousness by gliding to the top of the stairs assuring
herself by listening to the heavy breathing of her maids
that they were asleep gliding down again turning the
handle of the door within which the young girl lay and
deliberately setting herself to do what if she had antici
pated any such undertaking at night and alone would
have horrified her but which when done was not so
dreadful as was the conclusive proof of her husbands
conduct which came with knowing beyond doubt the
last chapter of fannys story
bathshebas head sank upon her bosom and the
breath which had been bated in suspense curiosity and
interest was exhaled now in the form of a whispered
wail ohhh she said and the silent room added
length to her moan
her tears fell fast beside the unconscious pair in the
coffin tears of a complicated origin of a nature inde
scribable almost indefinable except as other than those
of simple sorrow assuredly their wonted fires must
have lived in fannys ashes when events were so shaped
as to chariot her hither in this natural unobtrusive yet
effectual manner the one feat alone  that of dying 
by which a mean condition couid be resolved into a
grand one fanny had achieved and to that had
destiny subjoined this rencounter tonight which had
in bathshebas wild imagining turned her companions
failure to success her humiliation to triumph her luck
lessness to ascendency et had thrown over herself a
garish light of mockery and set upon all things about
her an ironical smile
fannys face was framed in by that yeiiow hair of
hers and there was no longer much room for doubt as
to the origin of the curl owned by troy in bath
shebas heated fancy the innocent white countenance
expressed a dim triumphant consciousness of the pain
she was retaliating for her pain with all the merciless
rigour of the mosaic law burning for burning wound
for wound strife for strife
bathsheba indulged in contempiations of escape from
her position by immediate death which thought she
though it was an inconvenient and awful way had limits
to its inconvenience and awfulness that could not be
overpassed  whilst the shames of life were measureless
yet even this scheme of extinction by death was out
fannys revenge
tamely copying her rivals method without the reasons
which had glorified it in her rivals case she glided
rapidly up and down the room as was mostly her habit
hen excited her hands hanging clasped in front of her
as she thought and in part expressed in brocken words 
o i hate her yet i dont mean that i hate her for
it is grievous and wicked and yet i hate her a little 
yes my flesh insists upon hating her whether my spirit
is willing or no  if she had only lived i could
ave been angry and cruel towards her with some justifi
cation  but to be vindictive towards a poor dead woman
recoils upon myself o god have mercy i am
miserable at all this  
bathsheba became at this moment so terrified at her
own state of mind that she looked around for some sort
of refuge from herself the vision of oak kneeling
down that night recurred to her and with the imitative
instinct which animates women she seized upon the idea
resolved to kneel and if possible pray gabriel had
prayed  so would she
she knelt beside the coffin covered her face with her
hands and for a time the room was silent as a tomb
whether from a purely mechanical or from any other
cause when bathsheba arose it was with a quieted spirit
and a regret for the antagonistic instincts which had
seized upon her just before
in her desire to make atonement she took flowers
from a vase by the window and began laying them
around the dead girls head bathsheba knew no other
way of showing kindness to persons departed than by
giving them flowers she knew not how long she
remained engaged thus she forgot time life where
she was what she was doing a slamming together of
the coachhouse doors in the yard brought her to her
self again an instant after the front door opened and
closed steps crossed the hall and her husband appeared
at the entrance to the room looking in upon her
he beheld it all by degrees stared in stupefaction at
the scene as if he thought it an illusion raised by some
fiendish
incantation bathsheba pallid as a corpse on
end gazed back at him in the same wild way
so little are instinctive guesses the fruit of a legitimate
induction that at this moment as he stood with the
door in his hand troy never once thought of fanny in
connection with what he saw his first confused idea
was that somebody in the house had died
weliwhat   said troy blankly
i must go  i must go   said bathsheba to herself
more than to him she came with a dilated eye towards
the door to push past him
 whats the matter in gods name  whos dead 
said troy
i cannot say let me go out i want air  she
continued
but no stay i insist   he seized her hand and
then volition seemed to leave her and she went off into
a state of passivity he still holding her came up the
room and thus hand in hand troy and bathsheba
approached the coffins side
the candle was standing on a bureau close by them
and the light slanted down distinctly enkindling the
cold features of both mother and babe troy looked
in dropped his wifes hand knowledge of it all came
over him in a lurid sheen and he stood still
so still he remained that he could be imagined to
have left in him no motive power whatever the
clashes of feeling in all directions confounded one
another produced a neutrality and there was motion in
none
do you know her said bathsheba in a small
enclosed echo as from the interior of a cell
i do said troy
is it she
it is
he had originally stood perfectly erect and now
in the welinigh congealed immobility of his frame
could be discerned an incipient movement as in the
darkest night may be discerned light after a while
he was gradually sinking forwards the lines of his
features softened and dismay modulated to illiimitable
sadness bathsheba was regarding him from the other
side still with parted lips and distracted eyes
capacity
for intense feeling is proportionate to the general
intensity of the nature and perhaps in all fannys
sufferings much greater relatively to her strength there
never was a time she suffered in an absolute sense
what bathsheba suffered now
what troy did was to sink upon  his knees with
an indefinable union of remorse and reverence upon
his face and bending over fanny robin gently kissed
her as one would kiss an infant asleep to avoid
awakening it
at the sight and sound of that to her unendurable
act bathsheba sprang towards him all the strong
feelings which had been scattered over her existence
since she knew what feeling was seemed gathered
together into one pulsation now the revulsion from
her indignant mood a little earlier when she had
meditated upon compromised honour forestalment
eclipse in maternity by another was violent and entire
all that was forgotten in the simple and still strong
attachment of wife to husband she had sighed for
her selfcompleteness then and now she cried aloud
against the severance of the union she had deplored
she flung her arms round troys neck exclaiming wildly
from the deepest deep of her heart 
 dont  dont kiss them  o frank i cant bear
iti cant  i love you better than she did kiss me
too frank  kiss me  you will frank kiss me too 
there was something so abnormal and startling in
the childlike pain and simplicity of this appeal from a
woman of bathshebas calibre and independence that
troy loosening her tightly clasped arms from his neck
looked at her in bewilderment it was such and unex
pected revelation of all women being alike at heart even
those so different in their accessories as fanny and this
one beside him that troy could hardly seem to believe
her to be his proud wife bathsheba fannys own
spirit seemed to be animating her frame but this was
the mood of a few instants only when the momentary
i will not kiss you he said pushing her away
had the wife now but gone no further yet
perhaps under the harrowing circumstances to speak
out was the one wrong
act which can be better under
stood if not forgiven in her than the right and politic
one her rival being now but a corpse all the feeling
she had been betrayed into showing she drew back to
herself again by a strenuous effort of selfcommand
what have you to say as your reason  she asked
her bitter voice being strangely low  quite that of
another woman now
i have to say that i have been a bad blackhearted
man he answered
less than she
ah dont taunt me madam this woman is more
to me dead as she is than ever you were or are or can
be  if satan had not tempted me with that face of
yours and those cursed coquetries i should have
he turned to fanny then but never mind darling
wife
at these words there arose from bathshebas lips a
long low cry of measureless despair and indignation
such a wail of anguish as had never before been heard
within those oldinhabited walls it was the 
of her union with troy
if shes    that  what  am i   she added as a
continuation of the same cry and sobbing pitifully
and the rarity with her of such abandonment only made
the condition more dire
 you are nothing to me    nothing said troy
heartlessly a ceremony before a priest doesnt make
a marriage i am not morally yours
a vehement impulse to flee from him to run from
this place hide and escape his words at any price not
stopping short of death itself mastered bathsheba now
she waited not an instant but turned to the door and
ran out
under a tree  reaction
bathsheba went along the dark road neither know
ing nor caring about the direction or issue of her flight
the first time that she definitely noticed her position
was when she reached a gate leading into a thicket over
hung by some large oak and beech trees on looking
into the place it occurred to her that she had seen it
by daylight on some previous occasion and that what
appeared like an impassable thicket was in reality a
brake of fern now withering fast she could think of
nothing better to do with her palpitating self than to go
in here and hide and entering she lighted on a spot
sheltered from the damp fog hy a reclining trunk where
she sank down upon a tangled couch of fronds and
stems she mechanically pulled some armfuls round
her to keep off the breezes and closed her eyes
whether she slept or not that night bathsheba was
not clearly aware but it was with a freshened exist
ence and a cooler brain that a long time afterwards she
became conscious of some interesting proceedings which
were going on in the trees above her head and around
a coarsethroated chatter was the first sound
it was a sparrow just waking
next   cheeweezeweezeweeze   from another
retreat
it was a finch
third   tinktinktinktinkachink   from the hedge
it was a robin
 chuckchuckchuck   overhead
a squirrel
then from the road with my ratata and my
rumtumtum  
it was a ploughboy presently he came opposite
and she believed from his voice that he was one of
the boys on her own farm he was followed by a
shambling tramp of heavy feet and
looking through
the ferns bathsheba could just discern in the wan light
of daybreak a team of her own horses they stopped
to drink at a pond on the other side of the way she
watched them flouncing into the pool drinking tossing
up their heads drinking again the water dribbling
from their lips in silver threads there was another
flounce and they came out of the pond and turned
back again towards the farm
she looked further around day was just dawning
and beside its cool air and colours her heated actions
and resolves of the night stood out in lurid contrast
she perceived that in her lap and clinging to her
hair were red and yellow leaves which had come
down from the tree and settled silently upon her
during her partial sleep bathsheba shook her dress to
get rid of them when multitudes of the same family lying
round about her rose and fiuttered away in the breeze
thus created like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing
there was an opening towards the east and the
glow from the as yet unrisen sun attracted her eyes
thither from her feet and between the beautiful
yellowing ferns with their feathery arms the ground
sloped downwards to a hollow in which was a species
of swamp dotted with fungi a morning mist hung
over it now  a fulsome yet magnificent silvery veil
full of light from the sun yet semiopaque  the hedge
behind it being in some measure hidden by its hazy
luminousness up the sides of this depression grew
sheaves of the common rush and here and there a
peculiar species of flag the blades of which glistened
in the enaerging sun like scythes but the general
aspect of the swamp was malignant from its moist
and poisonous coat seemed to be exhaled the essences
of evil things in the earth and in the waters under
the earth the fungi grew in all manner of positions
from rotting leaves and tree stumps some exhibiting
to her listless gaze their clammy tops others their
oozing gills some were marked with great splotches
red as arterial blood others were saffron yellow and
others tall and attenuated with stems like macaroni
some were leathery and of richest browns the
hollow seemed a nursery of pestilences small and
great in the immediate neighbourhood of comfort
and health and bathsheba arose with a tremor at the
thought of having
passed the night on the brink of
so dismal a place
lhere were now other footsteps to be heard along
the road bathshebas nerves were still unstrung 
she crouchcd down out of sight again and the pedes
trian came into view he was a schoolboy with a
bag slung over his shoulder containing his dinner
and a hook in his hand he paused by the gate
and without looking up continued murmuring words
in tones quite loud enough to reach her ears
o lord o lord o lord o lord o lord 
that i know out o book give us give us give us
give us give us    that i know grace that grace that
grace that grace that    that i know other words
followed to the same effect the boy was of the
dunce class apparently the book was a psalter and
this was his way of learning the collect in the worst
attacks of trouble there appears to be always a super
ficial film of consciousness which is left disengaged
and open to the notice of trifles and bathsheba was
faintly amused at the boys method till he too passed on
by this time stupor had given place to anxiety and
anxiety began to make room for hunger and thirst
a form now appeared upon the rise on the other side
of the swamp halfhidden by the mist and came
towards bathsheba the woman  for it was a woman
  approached with her face askance as if looking
earnestly on all sides of her when she got a little
further round to the left and drew nearer bathsheba
could see the newcomers profile ngainst the sunny
sky and knew the wavy sweep from forehead to chin
with neither angle nor decisive line anywhere about
it to be the familiar contour of liddy smallbury
bathshebas heart bounded with gratitude in the
thought that she was not altogether deserted and she
jumped up  o liddy   she said or attempted to say
but the words had only been framed hy her lips there
came no sound she had lost her voice by exposure
to the clogged atmosphere all these hours of night
o maam i am so glad i have found you said
the girl as soon as she saw bathsheba
 you cant come across bathsheba said in a whisper
wihich she
vainly endeavoured to make loud enough to
reach liddys ears liddy not knowing this stepped
down upon the swamp saying as she did so it will
bear me up i think
bathsheba never forgot that transient little picture
of liddy crossing the swamp to her there in the
morning light iridescent bubbles of dank subter
ranean breath rose from the sweating sod beside the
waiting maids feet as she trod hissing as they burst
and expanded away to join the vapoury firmament above
liddy did not sink as bathsheba had anticipated
she landed safely on the other side and looked up
at the beautiful though pale and weary face of her
young mistress
poor thing   said liddy with tears in her eyes
do hearten yourself up a little maam however
did    
i cant speak above a whisper  my voice is gone
for the present said bathsheba hurriedly  i suppose
the damp air from that hollow has taken it away
liddy dont question me mind who sent you 
anybody  
 nobody i thought when i found you were not
at home that something cruel had happened i fancy
i heard his voice late last night and so knowing
something was wrong    
is he at home
no  he left just before i came out
is fanny taken away  
 not yet she will soon be  at nine oclock
we wont go home at present then suppose we
walk about in this wood 
liddy without exactly understanding everything or
anything in this episode assented and they walked
together further among the trees
but you had better come in maam and have
something to eat you will die of a chill 
i shall not come indoors yet  perhaps never
shall i get you something to eat and something
else to put over your head besides that little shawl
if you will liddy
liddy vanished and at the end of twenty minutes
returned with a cloak hat some slices of bread and
butter a teacup and some hot tea in a little china jug
is fanny gone   said bathsheba
 no said her companion pouring out the tea
bathsheba wrapped herself up and ate and drank
sparingly her voice was then a little clearer and
trifling colour returned to her face now well walk
about again she said
they wandered about the wood for nearly two
reaction
hours bathsheba replying in monosyllables to liddys
prattle for her mind ran on one subject and one only
she interrupted with 
l wonder if fanny is gone by this time  
i will go and see
she came back with the information that the
men were just taking away the corpse that bathsheba
had been inquired for that she had replied to the
effect that her mistress was unwell and could not be
seen
then they think i am in my bedroom 
 yes liddy then ventured to add  you said
when i first found you that you might never go home
again  you didnt mean it maam  
no ive altered my mind it is only women with
no pride in them who run away from their husbands
there is one position worse than that of being found
dead in your husbands house from his iliusage and
that is to be found alive through having gone away to
the house of somebody else lve thought of it all this
morning and ive chosen my course a runaway wife
is an encumbrance to everybody a burden to herself and
a byword  all of which make up a heap of misery
greater than any that comes by staying at home 
though this may include the trifling items of insult
beating and starvation liddy if ever you marry 
god forbid that you ever should   youll find yourself
in a fearful situation  but mind this dont you flinch
stand your ground and be cut to pieces thats
what im going to do
 o mistress dont talk so   said liddytaking her
hand but i knew you had too much sense to bide
away may i ask what dreadful thing it is that has
happened between you and him 
 you may ask but i may not tell
in about ten minutes they returned to the house by
a cimuitous route entering at the rear bathsheba
glided up the
back stairs to a disused attic and her
companion followed
liddy she said with a lighter heart for youth an
hope had begun to reassert themselves  you are to b
my confidante for the present  somebody must be  and
i choose you well i shall take up my abode here fo
a while will you get a fire lighted put down a piece
of carpet and help me to make the place comfortable
afterwards i want you and maryann to bring up that
little stump bedstead in the small room and the be
belonging to it and a table and some other things
what shall i do to pass the heavy time away 
hemming handkerchiefs is a very good thing said
liddy
o no no  i hate needleworki always did
knitting  
 and that too
you might finish your sampler only the carn
tions and peacocks want filling in and then it could
be framed and glazed and hung beside your aunt
maam
 samplers are out of date  horribly countrified no
liddy ill read bring up some books  not new ones
i havent heart to read anything new
some of your uncles old ones maam  
 yes some of those we stowed away in boxes 
faint gleam of humour passed over her face as she said
bring beaumont and fletchers maids tragedy an
the mourning bride  andiet me see  niht thoghts
and the vanity of human wishes
and that story of the black man who murdered his
wife desdemona it is a nice dismal one that would
suit you excellent just now
 now liddy youve been looking into my book
without telling me and i said you were not to  how
do you know it would suit me it wouldnt suit me a
all
but if the others do    
 no they dont  and i wont read dismal books
why should i read dismal books indeed  bring me
love in a village and maid of the mill and doctor
syntax and some volumes of the spectator
all that day bathsheba and liddy lived in the attic
in a state of
barricade  a precaution which proved to be
needless as against troy for he did not appear in the
neighbourhood or trouble them at all bathsheba sat
at the window till sunset sometimes attempting to read
at other times watching every movement outside without
much purpose and listening without much interest to
every sound
the sun went down almost bloodred that night and
a livid cloud received its rays in the east up against
this dark background the west front of the church
tower  the only part of the edifice visible from the
farmhouse windows  rose distinct and lustrous the
vane upon the summit bristling with rays hereabouts
at six oclock the young men of the village gathered
as was their custom for a game of prisoners base the
spot had been consecrated to this ancient diversion from
time immemorial the old stocks conveniently forming
a base facing the boundary of the churchyard in front
of which the ground was trodden hard and bare as a
pavement by the players she could see the brown
and black heads of the young lads darting about right
and left their white shirtsleeves gleaming in the sun
whilst occasionally a shout and a peal of hearty laughter
varied the stillness of the evening air they continued
playing for a quarter of an hour or so when the game
concluded abruptly and the players leapt over the wall
and vanished round to the other side behind a yewtree
which was also half behind a beech now spreading in
one mass of golden foliage on which the branches
traced black lines
why did the baseplayers finish their game so
suddenly bathsheba inquired the next time that
liddy entered the room
 i think twas because two men came just then from
casterbridge and began putting up grand carved
tombstone said liddy  the lads went to see whose
it was
 do you know   bathsheba asked
 i dont said liddy
troys romanticism
when troys wife had left the house at the previous
midnight his first act was to cover the dead from sight
this done he ascended the stairs and throwing himself
down upon the bed dressed as he was he waited miser
ably for the morning
fate had dealt grimly with him through the last four
andtwenty hours his day had been spent in a way
which varied very materially from his intentions regard
ing it there is always an inertia to be overcome in
striking out a new line of conduct  not more in our
selves it seems than in circumscribing events which
appear as if leagued together to allow no novelties in
the way of amelioration
twenty pounds having been secured from bathsheba
he had managed to add to the sum every farthing he
could muster on his own account which had been seven
pounds ten with this money twentyseven pounds ten
in all he had hastily driven from the gate that morning
to keep his appointment with fanny robin
on reaching casterbridge he left the horse and trap
at an inn and at five minutes before ten came back to
the bridge at the lower end of the town and sat himself
upon the parapet the clocks struck the hour and no
fanny appeared in fact at that moment she was being
robed in her graveclothes by two attendants at the
union poorhouse  the first and last tiringwomen the
gentle creature had ever been honoured with the
quarter went the half hour a rush of recollection
came upon troy as he waited this was the second
time she had broken a serious engagement with him
in anger he vowed it should be the last and at eleven
oclock when he had lingered and watched the stone
of the bridge till he knew every lichen upon their face
and heard the chink of the ripples underneath till they
oppressed him he jumped from his seat went to the inn
for his gig and in a bitter mood of indifference con
cerning the past and recklessness about the future
drove on to budmouth races
he reached the racecourse at two oclock and re
mained either there or in the town till nine but
fannys image as it had appeared to him in the sombre
shadows of that saturday evening returned to his mind
backed up by bathshebas reproaches he vowed he
would not bet and he kept his vow for on leaving the
town at nine oclock in the evening he had diminish
his cash only to the extent of a few shillings
he trotted slowly homeward and it was now that
was struck for the first time with a thought that fanny
had been really prevented by illness from keeping her
promise this time she could have made no mistake
he regretted that he had not remained in casterbridge
and made inquiries reaching home he quietly un
harnessed the horse and came indoors as we have seen
to the fearful shock that awaited him
as soon as it grew light enough to distinguish objects
troy arose from the coverlet of the bed and in a mood
of absolute indifference to bathshebas whereabouts a
almost oblivious of her existence he stalked downstairs
and left the house by the back door his walk was
towards the churchyard entering which he searched
around till he found a newly dug unoccupied grave 
the grave dug the day before for fanny the position
of this having been marked he hastened on to caster
bridge only pausing
whereon he had last seen fanny alive
reaching the town troy descended into a side
street and entered a pair of gates surmounted by a board
bearing the words lester stone and marble mason
within were lying about stones of all sizes and designs
inscribed as being sacred to the memory of unnamed
persons who had not yet died
troy was so unlike himself now in look word and
deed that the want of likeness was perceptible even to
his own consciousness his method of engaging himself
in this business of purchasing a tomb was that of an
absolutely unpractised man he could not bring him
self to consider calculate or
economize he waywardly
wished for something and he set about obtaining it like
a child in a nursery i want a good tomb he said to
the man who stood in a little office within the yard
i want as good a one as you can give me for twenty
seven pounds
it was all the money he possessed
that sum to include everything
 everything cutting the name carriage to weather
bury and erection and i want it now at once 
 we could not get anything special worked this
week
if you would like one of these in stock it could be
got ready immediately
very well said troy impatiently  lets see what
you have
the best i have in stock is this one said the stone
cutter going into a shed  heres a marble headstone
beautifully crocketed with medallions beneath of typical
subjects  heres the footstone after the same pattern
and heres the coping to enclose the grave the
slabs are the best of their kind and i can warrant them
well i couid add the name and put it up at
visitor who wore not a shred of mourning troy then
settled the account and went away in the afternoon
almost done he waited in the yard till the tomb was
way to weatherbury giving directions to the two men
the grave of the person named in the inscription
bridge he carried rather a heavy basket upon his
occasionally at bridges and
gates whereon he deposited
returning in the darkness the men and the waggon
the work was done and on being assured that it was
troy entered weatherbury churchyard about ten
had marked the vacant grave early in the morning it
extent from the view of passers along the road  a spot
and bushes of alder but now it was cleared and made
the ground elsewhere
here now stood the tomb as the men had stated snow
white and shapely in the gloom consisting of head and
footstone and enclosing border of marblework uniting
them in the midst was mould suitable for plants
troy deposited his basket beside the tomb and
vanished for a few minutes when he returned he
carried a spade and a lantern the light of which he
directed for a few moments upon the marble whilst he
read the inscription he hung his lantern on the lowest
bough of the yewtree and took from his basket flower
roots of several varieties there were bundles of snow
drop hyacinth and crocus bulbs violets and double
daisies which were to bloom in early spring and of
carnations pinks picotees lilies of the valley forgetme
not summersfarewell meadowsaffron and others for
the later seasons of the year
troy laid these out upon the grass and with an im
passive face set to work to plant them the snowdrops
were arranged in a line on the outside of the coping
the remainder within the enclosure of the grave the
crocuses and hyacinths were to grow in rows some of
the summer flowers he placed over her head and feet
the lilies and forgetmenots over her heart the
remainder were dispersed in the spaces between these
troy in his prostration at this time had no percep
tion that in the futility of these romantic doings dictated
by a remorseful reaction from previous indifference there
was any element
of absurdity deriving his idiosyn
crasies from both sides of the channel he showed at
such junctures as the present the inelasticity of the
englishman together with that blindness to the line
where sentiment verges on mawkishness characteristic
of the french
lt was a cloudy muggy and very dark night and
the rays from troys lantern spread into the two old
yews with a strange illuminating power flickering as it
seemed up to the black ceiling of cloud above he
felt a large drop of rain upon the back of his hand and
presently one came and entered one of the holes of the
lantern whereupon the candle sputtered and went out
troy was weary and it being now not far from midnight
and the rain threatening to increase he resolved to leave
the finishing touches of his labour until the day should
break he groped along the wall and over the graves
in the dark till he found himself round at the north side
here he entered the porch and reclining upon the
bench within fell asleep
the gurgoyle  its doings
the tower of weatherbury church was a square
erection of fourteenthcentury date having two stone
gurgoyles on each of the four faces of its parapet of
these eight carved protuberances only two at this time
continued to serve the purpose of their erection  that
of spouting the water from the lead roof within one
mouth in each front had been closed hy bygone church
wardens as superfluous and two others were broken
away and choked  a matter not of much consequence
to the welibeing of the tower for the two mouths which
still remained open and active were gaping enough to do
all the work
it has been sometimes argued that there is no truer
criterion of the vitality of any given artperiod than the
power of the masterspirits of that time in grotesque 
and certainly in the instance of gothic art there is no
disputing the proposition weatherbury tower was a
somewhat early instance of the use of an ornamental
parapet in parish as distinct from cathedral churches
and the gurgoyles which are the necessary correlatives
of a parapet were exccptionally prominent  of the
boldest cut that the hand could shape and of the most
original design that a human brain could conceive
there was so to speak that symmetry in their distortion
which is less the characteristic of british than of
continental grotesques of the period all the eight
were different from each other a beholder was con
vinced that nothing on earth could be more hideous
than those he saw on the north side until he went
round to the south of the two on this latter face only
that at the southeastern corner concerns the story it
was too human to be called like a dragon too impish
to be like a man too animal to be like a fiend and not
enough like a bird to be called a griffin this horrible
stone entity was fashioned as if covered with a
wrinkled
hide it had short erect ears eyes starting from their
sockets and its fingers and hands were seizing the
corners of its mouth which they thus seemed to pull
open to give free passage to the water it vomited the
lower row of teeth was quite washed away though the
upper still remained here and thus jutting a couple
of feet from the wall against which its feet rested as a
support the creature had for four hundred years
laughed at the surrounding landscape voicelessly in
dry weather and in wet with a gurgling and snorting
sound
troy slept on in the porch and the rain increased
outside presently the gurgoyle spat in due time a
small stream began to trickle through the seventy feet
of aerial space between its mouth and the ground which
the waterdrops smote like duckshot in their accelerated
velocity the stream thickened in substance and in
creased in power gradually spouting further and yet
further from the side of the tower when the rain fell
in a steady and ceaseless torrent the stream dashed
downward in volumes
we follow its course to the ground at this point of
time the end of the liquid parabola has come forward
from the wall has advanced over the plinth mouldings
over a heap of stones over the marble border into the
midst of fanny robins grave
the force of the stream had until very lately been
received upon some loose stones spread thereabout
which had acted as a shield to the soil under the onset
these during the summer had been cleared from the
ground and there was now nothing to resist the down
fall but the bare earth for several years the stream
had not spouted so far from the tower as it was doing
on this night and such a contingency had been over
looked sometimes this obscure corner received no
inhabitant for the space of two or three years and
then it was usually but a pauper a poacher or other
sinner of undignified sins
the persistent torrent from the gurgoyles jaws
directed all its vengeance into the grave the rich
tawny mould was stirred into motion and boiled like
chocolate the water accumulated and washed deeper
down and the roar of the pool thus formed spread into
the night as the head and chief among other noises of
the kind created by the deluging rain the flowers so
carefully planted by fannys repentant lover began to
move and writhe in their bed the winterviolets
turned slowly upside down and became a mere mat of
mud soon the snowdrop and other bulbs danced in
the boiling mass like ingredients in a cauldron plants
of the tufted species were loosened rose to the surface
and floated of
troy did not awake from his comfortless sleep till it
was broad day not having been in bed for two nights
his shouldrrs felt stiff his feet tender and his head
heavy he remembered his position arose shivered
took the spade and again went out
the rain had quite ceased and the sun was shining
through the green brown and yellow leaves now
sparkling and varnished by the raindrops to the bright
ness of similar effects in the landscapes of ruysdael and
hobbema and full of all those infinite beauties that
arise from the union of water and colour with high
lights the air was rendered so transparent by the
heavy fall of rain that the autumn hues of the middle
distance were as rich as those near at hand and the
remote fields intercepted by the angle of the tower ap
peared in the same plane as the tower itself
he entered the gravel path which would take him
behind the tower the path instead of being stony as
it had been the night before was browned over with a
thin coating of mud at one place in the path he saw
a tuft of stringy roots washed white and clean as a
bundle of tendons he picked it up  surely it could
not be one of the primroses he had planted he saw
a bulb another and another as he advanced beyond
doubt they were the crocuses with a face of perplexed
dismay troy turned the corner and then beheld the
wreck the stream had made
the pool upon the grave had soaked away into the
ground and in its place was a hollow the disturbed
earth was washed over the grass and pathway in the
guise of the brown mud he had already seen and it
spotted the marble tombstone with the same stains
nearly all the flowers were washed clean out of the
ground and they lay roots upwards on the spots whither
they had been splashed by the stream
troys brow became heavily contracted he set his
teeth closely and his compressed lips moved as those of
one in great pain this singular accident by a strange
confluence of emotions in him was felt as the sharpest
sting of all troys face was very expressive and any
observer who had seen him now would hardly have
believed him to be a man who had laughed and sung
and poured lovetrifles into a womans ear to curse
his miserable lot was at first his impulse but even that
lowest stage of rebellion needed an activity whose
absence was necessarily antecedent to the existence of the
morbid misery which wrung him the sight coming
as it did superimposed upon the other dark scenery of
the previous days formed a sort of climax to the whole
panorama and it was more than he could endure
sanguine by nature troy had a power of eluding
grief by simply adjourning it he could put off the
consideration of any particular spectre till the matter
had become old and softened by time the planting
of flowers on fannys grave had been perhaps but a
species of elusion of the primary grief and now it was
as if his intention had been known and circumvented
almost for the first time in his life troy as he stood
by this dismantled grave wished himself another man
lt is seldom that a person with much animal spirit does
not feel that the fact of his life being his own is the one
qualification which singles it out as a more hopeful life
than that of others who may actually resemble him in
every particular troy had felt in his transient way
hundreds of times that he could not envy other people
their condition because the possession of that condition
would have necessitated a different personality when he
desired no other than his own he had not minded
the peculiarities of his birth the vicissitudes of his life
the meteoriike uncertainty of all that related to him
because these appertained to the hero of his story
without whom there would have been no story at all for
him and it seemed to be only in the nature of things
that matters would right themselves at some proper date
and wind up well this very morning the illusion
completed its disappearance and as it were all of a
sudden troy hated himself the suddenness was
probably more
apparent than real a coral reef which
just comes short of the ocean surface is no more to the
horizon than if it had never been begun and the mere
finishing stroke is what often appears to create an event
which has long been potentially an accomplished thing
he stood and mediated  a miserable man whither
should he go   he that is accursed let him be accursed
still was the pitiless anathema written in this spoliated
effort of his newborn solicitousness a man who has
spent his primal strength in journeying in one direction
has not much spirit left for reversing his course troy
had since yesterday faintly reversed his  but the merest
opposition had disheartened him to turn about would
have been hard enough under the greatest providential
encouragement but to find that providence far from
helping him into a new course or showing any wish
that he might adopt one actuallyjeered his first trembling
and critical attempt in that kind was more than nature
could bear
he slowly withdrew from the grave he did not
attempt to fill up the hole replace the flowers or do
anything at all he simply threw up his cards and
forswore his game for that time and always going out
of the churchyard silently and unobserved  none of the
villagers having yet risen  he passed down some fields
at the back and emerged just as secretly upon the high
road shortly afterwards he had gone from the village
meanwhile bathsheba remained a voluntary prisoner
in the attic the door was kept locked except during
the entries and exits of liddy for whom a bed had
been arranged in a small adjoining room the light
of troys lantern in the churchyard was noticed about
ten oclock by the maidservant who casually glanced
from the window in that direction whilst taking her
supper and she called bathshebas attention to it
they looked curiously at the phenomenon for a time
until liddy was sent to bed
bathsheba did not sleep very heavily that night
when her attendant was unconscious and softly breath
ing in the next room the mistress of the house was
still looking out of the window at the faint gleam
spreading from among the trees 
not in a steady shine
but blinking like a revolving coastiight though this
appearance failed to suggest to her that a person was
passing and repassing in front of it bathsheba sat
here till it began to rain and the light vanished when
she withdrew to lie restlessly in her bed and reenact
in a worn mind the lurid scene of yesternight
almost before the first faint sign of dawn appeared
she arose again and opened the window to obtain a full
breathing of the new morning air the panes being now
wet with trembling tears left by the night rain each
one rounded with a pale lustre caught from primrose
hued slashes through a cloud low down in the awaken
ing sky from the trees came the sound of steady
dripping upon the drifted leaves under them and from
the direction of the church she could hear another noise
  peculiar and not intermittent like the rest the purl
of water falling into a pool
liddy knocked at eight oclock and bathsheba un
locked the door
 what a heavy rain weve had in the night maam
said liddy when her inquiries about breakfast had been
made
 yes  very heavy
did you hear the strange noise from the church
yard
i heard one strange noise ive been thinking it
must have been the water from the tower spouts
well thats what the shepherd was saying maam
hes now gone on to see
oh gabriel has been here this morning
only just looked in in passing  quite in his old way
which i thought he had left off lately but the tower
spouts used to spatter on the stones and we are puzzled
for this was like the boiling of a pot
not being able to read think or work bathsheba asked
liddy to stay and breakfast with her the tongue of the
more childish womian still ran upon recent events are
you going across to the church maam she asked
not that i know of said bathsheba
i thought you might like to go and see where they
have put fanny the trees hide the place from your
window
bathsheba had all sorts of dreads about meeting her
husband has mr troy been in tonight she said
 no maam  i think hes gone to budmouth
budmouth the sound of the word carried with
it a much diminished perspective of him and his deeds
there were thirteen miles interval betwixt them now
she hated questioning liddy about her husbands
movements and indeed had hitherto sedulously avoided
doing so but now all the house knew that there had
been some dreadful disagreement between them and
it was futile to attempt disguise bathsheba had
reached a stage at which people cease to have any
appreciative regard for public opinion
what makes you think he has gone there she said
laban tall saw him on the budmouth road this
morning before breakfast
bathsheba was momentarily relieved of that wayward
heaviness of the past twentyfour hours which had
quenched the vitality of youth in her without sub
stituting the philosophy of maturer years and the
resolved to go out and walk a little way so when
breakfast was over she put on her bonnet and took
a direction towards the church it was nine oclock
and the men having returned to work again from their
first meal she was not likely to meet many of them in
the road knowing that fanny had been laid in the
reprobates quarter of the graveyard called in the parish
behind church which was invisible from the road it
was impossible to resist the impulse to enter and look
upon a spot which from nameless feelings she at the
same time dreaded to see she had been unable to
overcome an impression that some connection existed
between her rival and the light through the trees
bathsheba skirted the buttress and beheld the hole
and the tomb its delicately veined surface splashed and
stained just as troy had seen it and left it two hours
earlier on the other side of the scene stood gabriel
his eyes too were fixed on the tomb and her arrival
having been noiseless she had not as yet attracted his
attention bathsheba did not at once perceive that the
grand tomb and the disturbed grave were fannys and
she looked on both sides and around for some humbler
mound
earthed up and clodded in the usual way then
her eye followed oaks and she read the words with
which the inscription opened  
erected by francis troy in beloved memory of
fanny robin
oak saw her and his first act was to gaze inquiringly
and learn how she received this knowledge of the
authorship of the work which to himself had caused
considerable astonishment but such discoveries did
not much affect her now emotional convulsions seemed
to have become the commonplaces of her history and
she bade him good morning and asked him to fill in
the hole with the spade which was standing by whilst
oak was doing as she desired bathsheba collected the
flowers and began planting them with that sympathetic
manipulation of roots and leaves which is so conspicuous
in a womans gardening and which flowers seem to
understand and thrive upon she requested oak to
get the churchwardens to turn the leadwork at the
mouth of the gurgoyle that hung gaping down upon
them that by this means the stream might be directed
sideways and a repetition of the accident prevented
finally with the superfluous magnanimity of a woman
whose narrower instincts have brought down bitterness
upon her instead of love she wiped the mud spots from
the tomb as if she rather liked its words than otherwise
adventures by the shore
troy wandered along towards the south a composite
feeling made up of disgust with the to him humdrum
tediousness of a farmers life gloomly images of her who
lay in the churchyard remorse and a general averseness
to his wifes society impelled him to seek a home in any
place on earth save weatherbury the sad accessories
of fannys end confronted him as vivid pictures which
threatened to be indelible and made life in bathshebas
house intolerable at three in the afternoon he found
himself at the foot of a slope more than a mile in length
which ran to the ridge of a range of hills lying parallel
with the shore and forming a monotonous barrier between
the basin of cultivated country inland and the wilder
scenery of the coast up the hill stretched a road
nearly straight and perfectly white the two sides
approaching each other in a gradual taper till they
met the sky at the top about two miles off through
out the length of this narrow and irksome inclined plane
not a sign of life was visible on this garish afternoon
troy toiled up the road with a languor and depression
greater than any he had experienced for many a day
and year before the air was warm and muggy and
the top seemed to recede as he approached
at last he reached the summit and a wide and
novel prospect burst upon him with an effect almost like
that of the pacific upon balboas gaze the broad
steely sea marked only by faint lines which had a
semblance of being etched thereon to a degree not deep
enough to disturb its general evenness stretched the
whole width of his front and round to the right where
near the town and port of budmouth the sun bristled
down upon it and banished all colour to substitute in
its place a clear oily polish nothing moved in sky
land or sea except a frill of milkwhite foam along the
nearer angles of the
shore shreds of which licked the
contiguous stones like tongues
he descended and came to a small basin of sea
enclosed by the cliffs troys nature freshened within
him  he thought he would rest and bathe here before
going farther he undressed and plunged in inside
the cove the water was uninteresting to a swimmer
being smooth as a pond and to get a little of the ocean
swell troy presently swam between the two projecting
spurs of rock which formed the pillars of hercules to
this miniature mediterranean unfortunately for troy
a current unknown to him existed outside which un
important to craft of any burden was awkward for a
swimmer who might be taken in it unawares troy
found himself carried to the left and then round in a
swoop out to sea
he now recollected the place and its sinister
character many bathers had there prayed for a dry
death from time to time and like gonzalo also had
been unanswered  and troy began to deem it possible
that he might be added to their number not a boat
of any kind was at present within sight but far in the
distance budmouth lay upon the sea as it were quietly
regarding his efforts and beside the town the harbour
showed its position by a dim meshwork of ropes and
spars after welinigh exhausting himself in attempts
to get back to the mouth of the cove in his weakness
swimming several inches deeper than was his wont
keeping up his breathing entirely by his nostrils turning
upon his back a dozen times over swimming en papillon
and so on troy resolved as a last resource to tread
water at a slight incline and so endeavour to reach the
shore at any point merely giving himself a gentle
impetus inwards whilst carried on in the general direc
tion of the tide this necessarily a slow process he
found to be not altogether so difficult and though there
was no choice of a landingplace  the objects on shore
passing by him in a sad and slow procession  he per
ceptibly approached the extremity of a spit of land yet
further to the right now well defined against the sunny
portion of the horizon while the swimmer s eyes were
fixed upon the spit as his only means of salvation on
this side of the
unknown a moving object broke the
outline of the extremity and immediately a ships boat
appeared manned with several sailor lads her bows
towards the sea
all troys vigour spasmodically revived to prolong
the struggle yet a little further swimming with his
right arm he held up his left to hail them splashing
upon the waves and shouting with all his might from
the position of the setting sun his white form was
distinctly visible upon the now deephued bosom of the
sea to the east of the boat and the men saw him at
once backing their oars and putting the boat about
they pulled towards him with a will and in five or six
minutes from the time of his first halloo two of the
sailors hauled him in over the stern
they formed part of a brigs crew and had come
ashore for sand lending him what little clothing they
could spare among them as a slight protection against
late they made again towards the roadstead where their
and now night drooped slowly upon the wide watery
levels in front and at no great distance from them
where the shoreiine curved round and formed a long
riband of shade upon the horizon a series of points of
yellow light began to start into existence denoting the
spot to be the site of budmouth where the lamps were
being lighted along the parade the cluck of their
oars was the only sound of any distinctness upon the
sea and as they laboured amid the thickening shades
the lampiights grew larger each appearing to send a
flaming sword deep down into the waves before it until
there arose among other dim shapes of the kind the
form of the vessel for which they were bound
doubts arise  doubts linger
bathsheba underwent the enlargement of her
husbands absence from hours to days with a slight
feeling of suprise and a slight feeling of relief yet
neither sensation rose at any time far above the level
commonly designated as indifference she belonged to
him  the certiinties of that position were so well defined
and the reasonable probabilies of its issue so bounded
that she could not speculate on contingenciezs taking
no further interest in herself as a splendid woman she
acquired the indifferent feelings of an outsider in contem
plating her probable fate as a singular wretch  for bath
sheba drew herself and her future in colours that no
reality could exceed for darkness her original vigorous
pride of youth had sickened and with it had declined
all her anzieties about coming years since anxiety
recognizes a better and a worse alternative and bath
sheba had made up her mind that alternatives on any
noteworthy scale had ceased for her soon or later 
and that not very late  her husband would be home
again and then the days of their tenancy of the
upper farm would be numbered there had origin
ally been shown by the agent to the estate some distrust
of bathshebas tenure as james everdenes successor
on the score of her sex and her youth and her beauty 
but the peculiar nature of her uncles will his own
frequent testimony before his death to her cleverness
in such a pursuit and her vigorous marshalling of the
numerous flocks and herds which came suddenly into
her hands before negotiations were concluded had won
confidence in her powers and no further objections had
been raised she had latterly been in great doubt as
to what the legal effects of her marriage would be upon
her position but no notice had been taken as yet of
her change of name and only one point was clear  that
in the event of her own or her husbands inability to
meet the agent at the
forthcoming january rentday
very little consideration would be shown and for that
matter very little would be deserved once out of the
farm the approach of poverty would be sure
hence bathsheba lived in a perception that her
purposes were broken of she was not a woman who
could hope on without good materials for the process
differing thus from the less farsighted and energetic
though more petted ones of the sex with whom hope
goes on as a sort of clockwork which the merest food
and shelter are sufficient to wind up and perceiving
clearly that her mistake had been a fatal one she
accepted her position and waited coldly for the end
the first saturday after troys departure she went
to casterbridge alone a journey she had not before
taken since her marriage on this saturday bathsheba
was passing slowly on foot through the crowd of rural
businessmen gathered as usual in front ot the market
house who were as usual gazed upon by the burghers
with feelings that those healthy lives were dearly paid
for by exclusion from possible aldermanship when a
man who had apparently been following her said some
words to another on her left hand bathshebas ears
were keen as those of any wild animal and she dis
tinctly heard what the speaker said though her back
was towards him
i am looking for mrs troy is that she there
 yes  thats the young lady i believe said the
the person addressed
i have some awkward news to break to her her
husband is drowned
as if endowed with the spirit of prophecy bathsheba
gasped out no it is not true it cannot be true
then she said and heard no more the ice of self
command which had latterly gathered over her was
broken and the currents burst forth again and over
whelmed her a darkness came into her eyes and she
fell
but not to the ground a gloomy man who had
been observing her from under the portico of the old
cornexchange when she passed through the group
without stepped quickly to her side at the moment of
her exclamation and caught her in his arms as she sank
down
what is it said boldwood looking up at the
bringer of the big news as he supported her
her husband was drowned this week while bathing
in lulwind cove a coastguardsman found his clothes
and brought them into budmouth yestersay
thereupon a strange fire lighted up boldwoods eye
and his face flushed with the suppressed excitement of
an unutterable thought everybodys glance was now
centred upon him and the unconsious bathsheba he
lifted her bodily off the ground and smoothed down
the folds of her dress as a child might have taken a
stormbeaten bird and arranged its ruffled plumes and
bore her along the pavement to the kings arms inn
here he passed with her under the archway into a
private room and by the time he had deposited  so
lothly  the precious burden upon a sofa bathsheba had
opened her eyes remembering all that had occurred
she murmured i want to go home  
boldwood left the room he stood for a moment in
the passage to recover his senses the experience had
been too much for his consciousness to keep up with
and now that he had grasped it it had gone again for
those few heavenly golden moments she had been in his
arms what did it matter about her not knowing it she
had been close to his breast  he had been close to hers
he started onward again and sending a woman to
her went out to ascertain all the facts of the case
these appeared to be limited to what he had already
heard he then ordered her horse to be put into the
gig and when all was ready returned to inform her
he found that though still pale and unwell she had in
the meantime sent for the budmouth man who brought
the tidings and learnt from him all there was to know
being hardly in a condition to drive home as she
had driven to town boldwood with every delicacy of
manner and feeling offered to get her a driver or to
give her a seat in his phaeton which was more com
fortable than her own conveyance these proposals
bathsheba gently declined and the farmer at once de
parted
about halfanhour later she invigorated herself by
an effort and took her seat and the reins as usuaiin
external
appearance much as if nothing had happened
she went out of the town by a tortuous back street and
drove slowly along unconscious of the road and the
scene the first shades of evening were showing them
selves when bathsheba reached home where silently
alighting and leaving the horse in the hands of the boy
she proceeded at once upstairs liddy met her on the
landing the news had preceded bathsheba to weather
bury by halfanhour and liddy looked inquiringly into
her mistresss face bathsheba had nothing to say
she entered her bedroom and sat by the window and
thought and thought till night enveloped her and the
extreme lines only of her shape were visible somebody
came to the door knocked and opened it
 well what is it liddy   she said
i was thinking there must be something got for you
to wear said liddy with hesitation
what do you mean 
 mourning
 no no no said bathsheba hurriedly
but i suppose there must be something done for
poor    
 not at present i think it is not necessary
 why not maam  
 because hes still alive
 how do you know that   said liddy amazed
 i dont know it but wouldnt it have heen different
or shouldnt i have heard more or wouldnt they have
found him liddy   ori dont know how it is but
death would have been different from how this is i am
perfectly convinced that he is still alive  
bathsheba remained firm in this opinion till monday
when two circumstances conjoined to shake it the
first was a short paragraph in the local newspaper which
beyond making by a methodizing pen formidable pre
sumptive evidence of troys death by drowning con
tained the important testimony of a young mr barker
md of budmouth who spoke to being an eyewitness
of the accident in a letter to the editor in this he
stated that he was passing over the cliff on the remoter
side of the
cove just as the sun was setting at that
time he saw a bather carried along in the current outside
the mouth of the cove and guessed in an instant that
there was but a poor chance for him unless he should
be possessed of unusual muscular powers he drifted
behind a projection of the coast and mr barker followed
along the shore in the same direction but by the time
that he could reach an elevation sufficiently great to
command a view of the sea beyond dusk had set in and
nothing further was to be seen
the other circumstance was the arrival of his clothes
when it became necessary for her to examine and identify
them  though this had virtually been done long before
by those who inspected the letters in his pockets it
was so evident to her in the midst of her agitation that
troy had undressed in the full conviction of dressing
again almost immediately that the notion that anything
but death could have prevented him was a perverse one
to entertain
then bathsheba said to herself that others were
assured in their opinion strange that she should not
be a stmnge reflection occured to her causing her
face to flush suppose that troy had followed fanny
into another world had he done this intentionally yet
contrived to make his death appear like an accident 
nevertheless this thought of how the apparent might
differ from the reaimade vivid by her bygone jealousy
of fanny and the remorse he had shown that night
  did not blind her to the perception of a likelier
difference less tragic but to herself far more disastrous
when alone late that evening beside a small fire and
much calmed down bathsheba took troys watch into
her hand which had been restored to her with the rest
of the articles belonging to him she opened the case
as he had opened it before her a week ago there was
the little coil of pale hair which had been as the fuze to
this great explosion
he was hers and she was his they should be gone
together she said i am nothing to either of them
and why should i keep her hair she took it in her
hand and held it over the fire  noill not burn it
ill keep it in memory of her poor thing   she added
snatching back her hand
oaks advancemeny  a great hope
the later autumn and the winter drew on apace
and the leaves lay thick upon the turf of the glades
and the mosses of the woods bathsheba having
previously been living in a state of suspended feeling
which was not suspense now lived in a mood of
quietude which was not precisely peacefulness while
she had known him to be alive she could have thought
of his death with equanimity but now that it might be
she had lost him she regretted that he was not hers
still she kept the farm going raked in her profits
without caring keenly about them and expended
money on ventures because she had done so in bygone
days which though not long gone by seemed infinitely
removed from her present she looked back upon that
past over a great gulf as if she were now a dead person
having the faculty of meditation still left in her by
means of which like the mouldering gentlefolk of the
poets story she could sit and ponder what a gift life
used to be
however one excellent result of her general apathy
was the longdelayed installation of oak as bailiff but
he having virtually exercised that function for a long
time already the change beyond the substantial in
crease of wages it brought was little more than a
nominal one addressed to the outside world
boldwood lived secluded and inactive much of
his wheat and all his barley of that season had been
spoilt by the rain it sprouted grew into intricate
mats and was ultimately thrown to the pigs in armfuls
the strange neglect which had produced this ruin
and waste became the subject of whispered talk among
all the people round and it was elicited from one of
boldwoods men that forgetfulness had nothing to do
with it for he had been reminded of the danger to
his corn as many times and as persistently as inferiors
dared to do the sight of the
pigs turning in disgust
from the rotten ears seemed to arouse boldwood and
he one evening sent for oak whether it was sug
gested by bathshebas recent act of promotion or not
the farmer proposed at the interview that gabriel
should undertake the superintendence of the lower
farm as well as of bathshebas because of the necessity
boldwood felt for such aid and the impossibility of
discovering a more trustworthy man gabriels malig
nant star was assuredly setting fast
bathsheba when she learnt of this proposaifor
oak was obliged to consult her  at first languidly
objected she considered that the two farms together
were too extensive for the observation of one man
boldwood who was apparently determined by personal
rather than commercial reasons suggested that oak
should be furnished with a horse for his sole use
when the plan would present no difficulty the two
farms lying side by side boldwood did not directly
communicate with her during these negotiations only
speaking to oak who was the gobetween throughout
all was harmoniously arranged at last and we now
see oak mounted on a strong cob and daily trotting
the length breadth of about two thousand acres
in a cheerful spirit of surveillance as if the crops
belonged to him  the actual mistress of the onehalf
and the master of the other sitting in their respective
homes in gloomy and sad seclusion
out of this there arose during the spring succeeding
a talk in the parish that gabriel oak was feathering his
nest fast
 whatever dye think said susan tall  gable oak
is coming it quite the dand he now wears shining
boots with hardly a hob in em two or three times
aweek and a tall hat asundays and a hardly knows
the name of smockfrock when i see people strut
enough to he cut up into bantam cocks i stand
dormant with wonder and says no more  
it was eventually known that gabriel though paid
a fixed wage by bathslieba independent of the fluctua
tions of agricultural profits had made an engagement
with boldwood by which oak was to receive a share
of the receipts  a small share certainly yet it was
money of a higher quality than mere wages and
capable of expansion in a way that wages were not
some were beginning to consider oak a near man
for though his condition had thus far improved he
lived in no better style than hefore occupying the
same cottage paring his own potatoes mending his
stockings and sometimes even making his bed with
his own hands but as oak was not only provokingly
indifferent to public opinion but a man who clung
persistently to old habits and usages simply because
they were old there was room for doubt as to his
motives
a great hope had latterly germinated in boldwood
whose unreasoning devotion to bathsheba could only
be characterized as a fond madness which neither
time nor circumstance evil nor good report could
weaken or destroy this fevered hope had grown up
again like a grain of mustardseed during the quiet
which followed the hasty conjecture that troy was
drowned he nourished it fearfully and almost
shunned the contemplation of it in earnest lest facts
should reveal the wildness of the dream bathsheba
having at last been persuaded to wear mourning her
appearance as she entered the church in that guise
was in itself a weekly addition to his faith that a
time was coming  very far off perhaps yet surely
nearing  when his waiting on events should have
its reward how long he might have to wait he had
not yet closely considered what he would try to
recognize was that the severe schooling she had been
subjected to had made bathsheba much more con
siderate than she had formerly been of the feelings of
others and he trusted that should she be willing at
any time in the future to marry any man at all that
man would be himself there was a substratum of
good feeling in her her selfreproach for the injury
she had thoughtlessly done him might be depended
upon now to a much greater extent than before her
infatuation and disappointment it would be possible
to approach her by the channel of her good nature
and to suggest a friendly businessiike compact between
them for fulfilment at some future day keeping the
passionate side of his desire entirely out of her sight
such was boldwoods hope
to the eyes of the middleaged bathsheba was
perhaps additionally charming just now her exuber
ance cf spirit was pruned down  the original phantom
of delight had shown
herself to be not too bright for
human natures daily food and she had been able to
enter this second poetical phase without losing much
of the first in the process
bathshebas return from a two months visit to her
old aunt at norcombe afforded the impassioned and
yearning farmer a pretext for inquiring directly after
her  now possibly in the ninth month of her
widowhood  and endeavouring to get a notion of her
middle of the haymaking and boldwood contrived to
i am glad to see you out of doors lydia he said
she simpered and wondered in her heart why he
i hope mrs troy is quite well after her long
the coldesthearted neighbour could scarcely say less
she is quite well sir
yes cheerful
fearful did you say
o no i merely said she was cheerful
tells you all her affairs
no sir
some of them
yes sir
mrs troy puts much confidence in you lydia
and very wisely perhaps
she do sir ive been with her all through her
troubles and was with her at the time of mrtroys
going and all and if she were to marry again i
expect i should bide with her
she promises that you shali  quite natural said
the strategic lover throbbing throughout him at the
presumption which liddys words appeared to warrant
  that his darling had thought of remarriage
no  she doesnt promise it exactly i merely
judge on my own account
yes       yes i understand when she alludes to the
possibility of marrying again you conclude    
she never do allude to it sir said liddy thinking
how very stupid mr boldwood was getting
of course not he returned hastily his hope falling
again  you neednt take quite such long reaches with
your rake lydia  short and quick ones are best well
perhaps as she is absolute mistress again now it is wise
of her to resolve never to give up her freedom
 my mistress did certainly once say though not
seriously that she supposed she might marry again at
the end of seven years from last year if she cared to
risk mr troys coming back and claiming her
 ah six years from the present time said that she
might she might marry at once in every reasonable
persons opinion whatever the lawyers may say to the
contrary
have you been to ask them said liddy innocently
 not i said boldwood growing red  liddy you
neednt stay here a minute later than you wish so mr
oak says i am now going on a little farther good
afternoon
he went away vexed with himself and ashamed of
having for this one time in his life done anything which
could be called underhand poor boldwood had no
more skill in finesse than a batteringram and he was
uneasy with a sense of having made himself to appear
stupid and what was worse mean but he had after
all lighted upon one fact by way of repayment it was
a singularly fresh and fascinating fact and though not
without its sadness it was pertinent and real in little
more than six years from this time bathsheba might
certainly marry him there was something definite in
that hope for admitting that there might have been no
deep thought in her words to liddy about marriage
they showed at least her creed on the matter
this pleasant notion was now continually in his mind
six years were a long time but how much shorter than
never the idea he had for so long been obliged to
endure  jacob had served twice seven years for
rachel what were six for such a woman as this  he
tried to like the notion of waiting for her better than
that of winning her at once boldwood felt his love
to be so deep and strong and eternal that it was pos
sible she
had never yet known its full volume and this
patience in delay would afford him an opportunity of
giving sweet proof on the point he would annihilate
the six years of his life as if they were minutes  so little
did he value his time on earth beside her love he
would let her see all those six years of intangible ether
eal courtship how little care he had for anything but as
it bore upon the consummation
meanwhile the early and the late summer brought
round the week in which greenhill fair was held
this fair was frequently attended by the folk of weather
bury
the sheep fair  troy touches his wifes hand
greenhill was the nijni novgorod of south
wessex and the busiest merriest noisiest day of the
whole statute number was the day of the sheep fair
this yearly gathering was upon the summit of a hill
which retained in good preservation the remains of an
ancient earthwork consisting of a huge rampart and
entrenchnaent of an oval form encircling the top of
the hill though somewhat broken down here and there
to each of the two chief openings on opposite sides a
winding road ascended and the level green space of
ten or fifteen acres enclosed by the bank was the
site of the fair a few permanent erections dotted the
spot but the majority of visitors patronized canvas alone
for resting and feeding under during the time of their
sojourn here
shepherds who attended with their flocks from long
distances started from home two or three days or even
a week before the fair driving their charges a few miles
each day  not more than ten or twelve  and resting
them at night in hired fields by the wayside at pre
viously chosen points where they fed having fasted since
morning the shepherd of each flock marched behind
a bundle containing his kit for the week strapped upon
his shoulders and in his hand his crook which he used
as the staff of his pilgrimage several of the sheep
would get worn and lame and occasionally a lambing
occurred on the road to meet these contingencies
there was frequently provided to accompany the flocks
from the remoter points a pony and waggon into which
the weakly ones were taken for the remainder of the
journey
the weatherbury farms however were no such
long distance from the hill and those arrangements
were not necessary in their case but the large united
flocks of bathsheba and farmer boldwood formed a
valuable and imposing multitude which
demanded much
attention and on this account gabriel in addition to
boldwoods shepherd and cain ball accompanied them
along the way through the decayed old town of kings
bere and upward to the plateau  old george the dog
of course behind them
when the autumn sun slanted over greenhill this
morning and lighted the dewy flat upon its crest nebu
lous clouds of dust were to be seen floating between
the pairs of hedges which streaked the wide prospect
around in all directions these gradually converged
upon the base of the hill and the flocks became
individually visible climbing the serpentine ways which
led to the top thus in a slow procession they entered
the opening to which the roads tended multitude after
multitude horned and hornless  blue flocks and red
flocks buff flocks and brown flocks even green and
salmontinted flocks according to the fancy of the
colourist and custom of the farm men were shouting
dogs were barking with greatest animation but the
thronging travellers in so long a journey had grown
nearly indifferent to such terrors though they still
bleated piteously at the unwontedness of their experi
ences a tall shepherd rising here and there in the midst
of them like a gigantic idol amid a crowd of prostrate
devotees
the great mass of sheep in the fair consisted of
south downs and the old wessex horned breeds to
the latter class bathshebas and farmer boldwoods
mainly belonged these filed in about nine oclock
their vermiculated horns lopping gracefully on each side
of their cheeks in geometrically perfect spirals a small
pink and white ear nestling under each horn before
and behind came other varieties perfect leopards as to
the full rich substance of their coats and only lacking the
spots there were also a few of the oxfordshire breeed
whose wool was beginning to curl like a childs flaxen
hair though surpassed in this respect by the effeminate
leicesters which were in turn less curly than the cots
wolds but the most picturesque by far was a small
flock of exmoors which chanced to be there this year
their pied faces and legs dark and heavy horns tresses
of wool hanging round their swarthy
foreheads quite
relieved the monotony of the flocks in that quarter
all these bleating panting and weary thousands had
entered and were penned before the morning had far
advanced the dog belonging to each flock being tied to
the corner of the pen containing it alleys for pedes
trians intersected the pens which soon became crowded
with buyers and sellers from far and near
in another part of the hill an altogether different
scene began to force itself upon the eye towards mid
day a circular tent of exceptional newness and size
was in course of erection here as the day drew on
the flocks began to change hands lightening the shep
herds responsibilities  and they turned their attention
to this tent and inquired of a man at work there whose
soul seemed concentrated on tying a bothering knot in
no time what was going on
 the royal hippodrome performance of turpins
ride to york and the death of black bess replied the
man promptly without turning his eyes or leaving off
tying
as soon as the tent was completed the band struck
up highly stimulating harmonies and the announce
ment was publicly made black bess standing in a con
spicuous position on the outside as a living proof if
proof were wanted of the truth of the oracular utterances
from the stage over which the people were to enter
these were so convinced by such genuine appeals to
heart and understanding both that they soon began to
crowd in abundantly among the foremost being visible
jan coggan and joseph poorgrass who were holiday
keeping here today
thats the great ruffen pushing me   screamed a
woman in front of jan over her shoulder at him when
the rush was at its fiercest
how can i help pushing ye when the folk behind
push me  said coggan in a deprecating tone turning
without turning his body which was jammed as in a vice
tjere was a silence  then the drums and trumpets
again sent forth their echoing notes the crowd was
again ectasied
and gave another lurch in which coggan
and poorgrass were again thrust by those behind upon
the women in front
o that helpless feymels should be at the mercy of
she swayed like a reed shaken by the wind
now said coggan appealing in an earnest voice
to the public at large as it stood clustered about his
shoulderbladesded ye ever hear such onreasonable
woman as that  upon my carcase neighbours if i
could onlyu get out of this cheesewring the damn women
might eat the show for me 
dont ye lose yer temper jan implored joseph
poorgrass in a whisper  they might get their men to
murder us for i think by the shine of their eyes that
they be a sinful form of womankind
jan held his tongue as if he had no objection to be
pacified to please a friend and they gradually reached
the foot of the ladder poorgrass being flattened like a
jumpingjack and the sixpence for admission which he
had got ready halfanhour earlier having become so
reeking hot in the tight squeeze of his excited hand that
the woman in spangles brazen rings set with glass
diamonds and with chalked face and shoulders who
took the money of him hastily dropped it again from
a fear that some trick had been played to burn her
fingers so they all entered and the cloth of the
tent to the eyes of an observer on the outside became
bulged into innumerable pimples such as we observe on
a sack of potatoes caused by the various human heads
backs and elbows at high pressure within
at the rear of the large tent there were two small
dressingtents one of these alloted to the male per
formers was partitioned into halves by a cloth  and in
one of the divisions there was sitting on the grass puli
ing on a pair of jackboots a young man whom we
instantly recognise as sergeant troy
troys appearance in this position may be briefly
accounted for the brig aboard which he was taken in
budmouth roads was about to start on a voyage though
somewhat short of hands troy read the articles and
joined but before they sailed a boat was despatched
across the bay to lulwind cove as he
had half expected
his clothes were gone he ultimately worked his passage
to the united states where he made a precarious living
in various towns as professor of gymnastics sword
exercise fencing and pugilism a few months were
sufficient to give him a distaste for this kind of life
there was a certain animal form of refinement in his
nature and however pleasant a strange condition might
be whilst privations were easily warded off it was dis
advantageously coarse when money was short there
was ever present too the idea that he could claim a
home and its comforts did he but chose to return to
england and weatherbury farm whether bathsheba
thought him dead was a frequent subject of curious
conjecture to england he did return at last  but the
but the fact of drawing nearer to weatherbury abstracted its
fascinations and his intention to enter his old groove at
the place became modified it was with gloom he con
sidered on landing at liverpool that if he were to go home
his reception would be of a kind very unpleasant to con
template  for what troy had in the way of emotion was
an occasional fitful sentiment which sometimes caused
him as much inconvenience as emotion of a strong and
healthy kind bathsheba was not a women to be made
a fool of or a woman to suffer in silence and how
could he endure existence with a spirited wife to whom
at first entering he would be beholden for food and
lodging  moreover it was not at all unlikely that his
wife would fail at her farming if she had not already
done so and he would then become liable for her
maintenance  and what a life such a future of poverty
with her would be the spectre of fanny constantly be
tween them harrowing his temper and embittering her
words thus for reasons touching on distaste regret
and shame commingled he put off his return from day
to day and would have decided to put it off altogether
if he could have found anywhere else the readymade
establishment which existed for him there
at this time  the july preceding the september in
which we find at greenhill fair  he fell in with a
travelling circus which was performing in the outskirts of
a northern town troy introduced himself to the
manager by taming a restive horse of the troupe hitting
a suspended apple with pistol
bullet fired from the
animals back when in full gallop and other feats for
his merits in these  all more or less based upon his ex
periences as a dragoonguardsman  troy was taken into
the company and the play of turpin was prepared with
a view to his personation of the chief character troy
was not greatly elated by the appreciative spirit in which
he was undoubtedly treated but he thought the engage
ment might afford him a few weeks for consideration
it was thus carelessly and without having formed any
definite plan for the future that troy found himself
at greenhill fair with the rest of the company on this
day
and now the mild autumn sun got lower and in
front of the pavilion the following incident had taken
place bathsheba  who was driven to the fair that day
by her odd man poorgrass  had like every one else
read or heard the announcement that mr francis the
great cosmopolitan equestrian and roughrider would
enact the part of turpin and she was not yet too old
and careworn to be without a little curiosity to see him
this particular show was by far the largest and grandest
in the fair a horde of little shows grouping themselves
under its shade like chickens around a hen the crowd
had passed in and boldwood who had been watching
all the day for an opportunity of speaking to her seeing
her comparatively isolated came up to her side
i hope the sheep have done well today mrs troy
he said nervously
o yes thank you said bathsheba colour springing
up in the centre of her cheeks i was fortunate
enough to sell them all just as we got upon the hill so
we hadnt to pen at all
and now you are entirely at leisure 
yes except that i have to see one more dealer in
two hours time  otherwise i should be going home
was looking at this large tent and the announcement
have you ever seen the play of turpins ride to
york turpin was a real man was he not 
o yes perfectly true  all of it indeed i think
ive heard jan coggan say that a relation of his knew
tom king turpins friend quite well
coggan is rather given to strange stories connected
with his relations we must remember i hope they
can all be believed
yes yes we know coggan but turpin is true
enough you have never seen it played i suppose
never i was not allowed to go into these places
when i was young hark whats that prancing
how they shout
black bess just started off i suppose am i right
in supposing you would like to see the performance
mrs troy  please excuse my mistake if it is one
but if you would like to ill get a seat for you with
pleasure perceiving that she hesitated he added i
myself shall not stay to see it ive seen it before
now bathsheba did care a little to see the show and
had only withheld her feet from the ladder because she
feared to go in alone she had been hoping that oak
might appear whose assistance in such cases was always
accepted as an inalienable right but oak was nowhere
to be seen and hence it was that she said then if
you will just look in first to see if theres room i think
i will go in for a minute or two
and so a short time after this bathsheba appeared
in the tent with boldwood at her elbow who taking
her to a  reserved  seat again withdrew
this feature consisted of one raised bench in very
conspicuous part of the circle covered with red cloth
and floored with a piece of carpet and bathsheba
immediately found to her confusion that she was the
single reserved individual in the tent the rest of the
crowded spectators one and all standing on their legs
on the borders of the arena where they got twice as
good a view of the performance for half the money
hence as many eyes were turned upon her enthroned
alone in this place of honour against a scarlet back
ground as upon the ponies and clown who were
engaged in preliminary exploits in the centre turpin
not having yet appeared once there bathsheba was
forced to make the best of it and remain she sat
down spreading her skirts with some dignity over the
unoccupied space on each side of her and giving a
new and feminine aspect to the pavilion in a few
minutes she noticed the fat red nape of coggans neck
among those standing just
below her and joseph poor
grasss saintly profile a little further on
the interior was shadowy with a peculiar shade
the strange luminous semiopacities of fine autumn
afternoons and eves intensified into rembrandt effects
the few yellow sunbeams which came through holes
and divisions in the canvas and spirted like jets of
golddust across the dusky blue atmosphere of haze
pervading the tent until they alighted on inner surfaces
of cloth opposite and shone like little lamps suspended
there
troy on peeping from his dressingtent through a
slit for a reconnoitre before entering saw his unconscious
wife on high before him as described sitting as queen
of the tournament he started back in utter confusion
for although his disguise efectually concealed his person
ality he instantly felt that she would be sure to recognize
his voice he had several times during the day thought
of the possibility of some weatherbury person or other
appearing and recognizing him but he had taken the
risk carelessly if they see me let them he had said
but here was bathsheba in her own person and the
reality of the scene was so much intenser than any of
his prefigurings that he felt he had not half enough
considered the point
she looked so charming and fair that his cool mood
about weatherbury people was changed he had not
expected her to exercise this power over him in the
twinkling of an eye should he go on and care nothing 
he could not bring himself to do that beyond a politic
wish to remain unknown there suddenly arose in him
now a sense of shame at the possibility that his
attractive young wife who already despised him should
despise him more by discovering him in so mean a
condition after so long a time he actually blushed
at the thought and was vexed beyond measure that
his sentiments of dislike towards weatherbury should
have led him to dally about the country in this way
but troy was never more clever than when absolutely
at his wits end he hastily thrust aside the curtain
dividing his own little dressing space from that of the
manager and proprietor who now appeared as the
individual called tom king as far
down as his waist and
as the aforesaid respectable manager thence to his toes
heres the devil to pay said troy
hows that 
why theres a blackguard creditor in the tent i dont
want to see wholl discover me and nab me as sure as
satan if i open my mouth whats to be done
you must appear now i think
i cant
but the play must proceed
do you give out that turpin has got a bad cold
and cant speak his part but that hell perform it just
the same without speaking
the proprietor shook his head
anyhow play or no play i wont open my mouth
said troy firmly
very well then let me see i tell you how well
manage said the other who perhaps felt it would be
extremely awkward to offend his leading man just at
this time i wont tell em anything about your
keeping silence go on with the piece and say nothing
doing what you can by a judicious wink now and then
and a few indomitable nods in the heroic places you
know theyll never find out that the speeches are
omitted
this seemed feasible enough for turpins speeches
were not many or long the fascination of the piece
lying entirely in the action  and accordingly the play
began and at the appointed time black bess leapt
into the grassy circle amid the plaudits of the spectators
at the turnpike scene where bess and turpin are hotly
pursued at midnight by the officers and halfawake
gatekeeper in his tasselled nightcap denies that any
horseman has passed coggan uttered a broadchested
well done which could be heard all over the fair
above the bleating and poorgrass smiled delightedly
with a nice sense of dramatic contrast between our
hero who coolly leaps the gate and halting justice in
the form of his enemies who must needs pull up
cumbersomely and wait to be let through at the
death of tom king he could not refrain from seizing
coggan by the hand and whispering with tears in his
eyes of
course hes not really shot jan    only
seemingly and when the last sad scene came on
and the body of the gallant and faithful bess had to
be carried out on a shutter by twelve volunteers from
among the spectators nothing could restrain poorgrass
from lending a hand exclaiming as he asked jan to
join him twill be something to tell of at warrens in
future years jan and hand down to our children for
many a year in weatherbury joseph told with the air
of a man who had had experiences in his time that he
touched with his own hand the hoof of bess as she lay
upon the board upon his shoulder if as some thinkers
hold immortality consists in being enshrined in others
memories then did black bess become immortal that
day if she never had done so before
meanwhile troy had added a few touches to his
ordinary makeup for the character the more effectually
to disguise himself and though he had felt faint qualms
on first entering the metamorphosis effected by judici
ously lining his face with a wire rendered him safe from
the eyes of bathsheba and her men nevertheless he
was relieved when it was got through
there a second performance in the evening and
the tent was lighted up troy had taken his part very
quietly this time venturing to indroduce a few speeches
on occasion  and was just concluding it when whilst
standing at the edge of the circle contiguous to the first
row of spectators he observed within a yard of him the
eye of a man darted keenly into his side features troy
hastily shifted his position after having recognized in
sworn enemy who still hung about the outskirts of
at first troy resolved to take no notice and abide
by circumstances that he had been recongnized by
this man was highly probable yet there was room for
a doubt then the great objection he had felt to
allowing news of his proximity to precede him to
weatherbury in the event of his return based on a
feeling that knowledge of his present occupation would
discredit him still further in his wifes eyes returned
in full force moreover should he resolve not to
return at all a tale of his being alive and being in
the neighbourhood would be
awkward  and he was
anxious to acquire a knowledge of his wifes temporal
affairs before deciding which to do
in this dilemma troy at once went out to recon
noitre it occurred to him that to find pennyways and
make a friend of him if possible would be a very wise
act he had put on a thick beard borrowed from the
establishment and this he wandered about the fair
field it was now almost dark and respectable people
were getting their carts and gigs ready to go home
the largest refreshment booth in the fair was provided
by an innkeeper from a neighbouring town this was
considered an unexceptionable place for obtaining the
necessary food and rest host trencher as he was
jauntily called by the local newspaper being a sub
stantial man of high repute for catering through all the
county round the tent was divided into first and
secondclass compartments and at the end of the first
class division was a yet further enclosure for the most
exclusive fenced of from the body of the tent by a
luncheonbar behind which the host himself stood
bustling about in white apron and shirtsleeves and look
ing as if he had never lived anywhere but under canvas
all his life in these penetralia were chairs and a table
which on candles being lighted made quite a cozy and
luxurious show with an urn plated tea and coffee pots
china teacups and plum cakes
troy stood at the entrance to the booth where a
gipsywoman was frying pancakes over a little fire of
sticks and selling them at a penny apiece and looked
over the heads of the people within he could see
nothing of pennyways but he soon discerned bathsheba
through an opening into the reserved space at the
further end troy thereupon retreated went round the
tent into the darkness and listened he could hear
bathshebas voice immediately inside the canvas  she
was conversing with a man a warmth overspread his
face surely she was not so unprincipled as to flirt in
a fair he wondered if then she reckoned upon his
death as an absolute certainty to get at the root of
the matter troy took a penknife from his pocket and
softly made two little cuts crosswise in the cloth which
by folding back the corners left a hole the size of a
wafer close to this he placed his face withdrawing
it again in a movement of surprise for his eye had
been within twelve inches of the top of bathshebas
head lt was too near to be convenient he made
another hole a little to one side and lower down in a
shaded place beside her chair from which it was easy
and safe to survey her by looking horizontally
troy took in the scene completely now she was
leaning back sipping a cup of tea that she held in her
hand and the owner of the male voice was boldwood
who had apparently just brought the cup to her
bathsheba being in a negligent mood leant so idly
against the canvas that it was pressed to the shape of
her shoulder and she was in fact as good as in rioys
arms and he was obliged to keep his breast carefully
backward that she might not feel its warmth through the
cloth as he gazed in
troy found unexpected chords of feeling to be stirred
again within him as they had been stirred earlier in the
day she was handsome as ever and she was his it
was some minutes before he could counteract his sudden
wish to go in and claim her then he thought how
the proud girl who had always looked down upon him
even whilst it was to love him would hate him on dis
covering him to be a strolling player were he to make
himself known that chapter of his life must at all risks
be kept for ever from her and from the weatherbury
people or his name would be a byword throughout the
parish he would be nicknamed turpin as long as
he lived assuredly before he could claim her these few
past months of his existence must be entirely blotted out
shall i get you another cup before you start
maam said farmer boldwood
i thank you said bathsheba  but i must be going
at once it was great neglect in that man to keep me
waiting here till so late i should have gone two hours
ago if it had not been for him i had no idea of
coming in here but theres nothing so refreshing as a
cup of tea though i should never have got one if you
hadnt helped me
troy scrutinized her cheek as lit by the candles
and watched each varying shade thereon and the
white shelllike sinuosities
of her little ear she took
out her purse and was insisting to boldwood on paying
for her tea for herself when at this moment pennyways
entered the tent troy trembled  here was his scheme
for respectability endangered at once he was about
to leave his hole of espial attempt to follow pennyways
and find out if the exbailiff had recognized him when
he was arrested by the conversation and found he was
too late
excuse me maam said pennyways  ive some
private information for your ear alone
i cannot hear it now she said coldly that
bathsheba could not endure this man was evident in
fact he was continually coming to her with some tale
or other by which he might creep into favour at the
expense of persons maligned
ill write it down said pennyways confidently he
stooped over the table pulled a leaf from a warped
pocketbook and wrote upon the paper in a round
hand 
 your husband is here ive seen him whos the fool
now
this he folded small and handed towards her
bathsheba would not read it  she would not even put
out her hand to take it pennyways then with a laugh
of derision tossed it into her lap and turning away
left her
from the words and action of pennyways troy
though he had not been able to see what the exbailiff
wrote had not a moments doubt that the note referred
to him nothing that he could think of could be done
to check the exposure  curse my luck he whispered
and added imprecations which rustled in the gloom like
a pestilent wind meanwhile boldwood said taking up
the note from her lap 
dont you wish to read it mrs troy if not
ill destroy it
 oh well said bathsheba carelessly perhaps it is
unjust not to read it but i can guess what it is about
he wants me to recommend him or it is to tell me of
some little scandal or another connected with my work
people hes always doing that
bathsheba held the note in her right hand bold
wood handed towards her a plate of cut breadand
butter when in order to take a slice she put the note
into her left hand where she was still holding the purse
and then allowed her hand to drop
beside her close to
the canvas the moment had come for saving his game
and troy impulsively felt that he would play the card
for yet another time he looked at the fair hand and
saw the pink fingertips and the blue veins of the
wrrist encircled by a bracelet of coral chippings which
she wore how familiar it all was to him then with
the lightning action in which he was such an adept he
noiselessly slipped his hand under the bottom of the
tentcloth which was far from being pinned tightly down
lifted it a little way keeping his eye to the hole
snatched the note from her fingers dropped the canvas
and ran away in the gloom towards the bank and ditch
smiling at the scream of astonishment which burst from
her troy then slid down on the outside of the rampart
hastened round in the bottom of the entrenchment to
a distance of a hundred yards ascended again and
crossed boldly in a slow walk towards the front entrance
of the tent his object was now to get to pennyways
and prevent a repetition of the announcement until
such time as he should choose
troy reached the tent door and standing among the
groups there gathered looked anxiously for pennyways
evidently not wishing to make himself prominent by
inquiring for him one or two men were speaking of
a daring attempt that had just been made to rob a
young lady by lifting the canvas of the tent beside her
it was supposed that the rogue had imagined a slip of
paper which she held in her hand to he a bank note
for he had seized it and made off with it leaving her
purse behind his chagrin and disappointment at dis
covering its worthlessness would be a good joke it was
said however the occurrence seemed to have become
known to few for it had not interrupted a fiddler who
had lately begun playing by the door of the tent nor
the four bowed old men with grim countenances and
walkingsticks in hand who were dancing major
malleys reel to the tune behind these stood
pennyways troy glided up to him beckoned and
whispered a few words  and with a mutual glance of
concurrence the two men went into the night together
bathsheba talks with her outrider
the arrangement for getting back again to weather
bury had been that oak should take the place of poor
grass in bathshebas conveyance and drive her home
it being discovered late in the afternoon that joseph
was suffering from his old complaint a multiplying eye
and was therefore hardly trustworthy as coachman and
protector to a woman but oak had found himself so
occupied and was full of so many cares relative to
those portions of boldwoods flocks that were not
disposed of that bathsheba without telling oak or
anybody resolved to drive home herself as she had
many times done from casterbridge market and trust
to her good angel for performing the journey un
molested but having fallen in with farmer boldwood
accidentally on her part at least at the refreshment
tent she found it impossible to refuse his offer to ride
on horseback beside her as escort it had grown
twilight before she was aware but boldwood assured
her that there was no cause for uneasiness as the
moon would be up in halfanhour
immediately after the incident in the tent she had
risen to go  now absolutely alarmed and really grateful
for her old lovers protection  though regretting gabriels
absence whose company she would have much preferred
as being more proper as well as more pleasant since he
was her own managingman and servant this how
ever could not be helped she would not on any
consideration treat boldwood harshly having once
already iliused him and the moon having risen and
the gig being ready she drove across the hilitop in
the wending ways which led downwards  to oblivious
obscurity as it seemed for the moon and the hill it
flooded with light were in appearance on a level the
rest of the world lying as a vast shady concave between
them boldwood mounted his horse and
followed in
close attendance behind thus they descended into
the lowlands and the sounds of those left on the
hill came like voices from the sky and the lights were
as those of a camp in heaven they soon passed the
merry stragglers in the immediate vicinity of the hill
traversed kingsbere and got upon the high road
the keen instincts of bathsheba had perceived that
the farmers staunch devotion to herself was still un
diminished and she sympathized deeply the sight
had quite depressed her this evening had reminded
her of her folly she wished anew as she had wished
many months ago for some means of making repara
tion for her fault hence her pity for the man who
so persistently loved on to his own injury and per
manent gloom had betrayed bathsheba into an injudi
cious considerateness of manner which appeared
almost like tenderness and gave new vigour to the
exquisite dream of a jacobs seven years service in
poor boldwoods mind
he soon found an excuse for advancing from his
position in the rear and rode close by her side they
had gone two or three miles in the moonlight speaking
desultorily across the wheel of her gig concerning the
fair farming oaks usefulness to them both and other
indifferent subjects when boldwood said suddenly
and simply 
mrs troy you will marry again some day
this pointblank query unmistakably confused her
it was not till a minute or more had elapsed that
she said i have not seriously thought of any such
subject
i quite understand that yet your late husband
has been dead nearly one year and  
 you forget that his death was never absolutely
proved and may not have taken place so that i may
not be really a widow she said catching at the straw of
escape that the fact afforded
not absolutely proved perhaps but it was proved
circumstantially a man saw him drowning too no
reasonable person has any doubt of his death nor
have you maam i should imagine
o yes i have or i should have acted differently
she said gently from the first i have had a strange
uaccountable
feeling that he could not have perished
but i have been able to explain that in several ways
since even were i half persuaded that i shall see
him no more i am far from thinking of marriage with
another i should be very contemptible to indulge in
such a thought
they were silent now awhile and having struck into
an unfrequented track across a common the creaks of
boldwoods saddle and gig springs were all the
sounds to be heard boldwood ended the pause
do you remember when i carried you fainting in
my arms into the kings arms in casterbridge every
dog has his day that was mine
i knowi know it all she said hurriedly
i for one shall never cease regretting that events
so fell out as to deny you to me
i too am very sorry she said and then checked
herself i mean you know i am sorry you thought
i  
i have always this dreary pleasure in thinking over
those past times with you  that i was something to
you before he was anything and that you belonged
never liked me
 i did  and respected you too
do you now
yes
which
how do you mean which
do you like me or do you respect me
i dont know  at least i cannot tell you it is
difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language
which is chiefly made by men to express theirs my
treatment of you was thoughtless inexcusable wicked
i shall eternally regret it if there had been anything
i could have done to make amends i would most
gladly have done it  there was nothing on earth i so
longed to do as to repair the error but that was not
possible
dont blame yourself  you were not so far in the
wrong as you suppose bathsheba suppose you had
real complete proof
that you are what in fact you are
  a widow  would you repair the old wrong to me by
marrying me
i cannot say i shouldnt yet at any rate
but you might at some future time of your life
o yes i might at some time
well then do you know that without further proof
of any kind you may marry again in about six years
from the present  subject to nobodys objection or
blame
o yes she said quickly  i know all that but
dont talk of it  seven or six years  where may we all
be by that time
they will soon glide by and it will seem an
astonishingly short time to look back upon when they
are past  much less than to look forward to now
yes yes i have found that in my own experience
 now listen once more boldwood pleaded if i
wait that time will you marry me you own that you
owe me amendsiet that be your way of making them
but mr boldwood  six years  
do you want to be the wife of any other man
no indeed i mean that i dont like to talk
about this matter now perhaps it is not proper and
i ought not to allow it let us drop it my husband
may be living as i said
of course ill drop the subject if you wish but
propriety has nothing to do with reasons i am a
middleaged man willing to protect you for the
remainder of our lives on your side at least there
is no passion or blamable haste  on mine perhaps
there is but i cant help seeing that if you choose
from a feeling of pity and as you say a wish to make
amends to make a bargain with me for a farahead
time  an agreement which will set all things right
and make me happy late though it may be  there is
no fault to be found with you as a woman hadnt
i the first place beside you havent you been
almost mine once already surely you can say to
me as much as this you will have me back again
should circumstances permit  now pray speak  o
bathsheba promise  it is only a little promise  that
if you marry again you will marry me
his tone was so excited that she almost feared him
at this
moment even whilst she sympathized it was
a simple physical fear  the weak of the strong there
no emotional aversion or inner repugnance she
said with some distress in her voice for she remembered
vividly his outburst on the yalbury road and shrank
from a repetition of his anger 
i will never marry another man whilst you wish me
to be your wife whatever comes  but to say more  you
have taken me so by surprise  
but let it stand in these simple words  that in six
years time you will be my wife  unexpected accidents
well not mention because those of course must be
given way to now this time i know you will keep
your word
thats why i hesitate to give it
but do give it  remember the past and be kind
she breathed and then said mournfully  o what
shall i do  i dont love you and i much fear that i
never shall love you as much as a woman ought to love
a husband if you sir know that and i can yet give
you happiness by a mere promise to marry at the end of
six years if my husband should not come back it is a
great honour to me and if you value such an act of
friendship from a woman who doesnt esteem her
self as she did and has little love left why it
wili  
promise
  consider if i cannot promise soon
but soon is perhaps never
o no it is not i mean soon christmas well
say
christmas he said nothing further till he
added  well ill say no more to you about it till that
time
bathsheba was in a very peculiar state of mind
which showed how entirely the soul is the slave of the
body the ethereal spirit dependent for its quality upon
the tangible flesh and blood it is hardly too much to
say that she felt coerced by a force stronger than her
own will not only into the act of promising upon this
singularly remote and vague matter but into the emo
tion of fancying that she ought to promise when the
weeks intervening between the night of this conversa
tion and christmas day began perceptibly to diminish
her anxiety and perplexity increased
one day she was led by an accident into an oddly
confidential dialogue with gabriel about her difficulty
it afforded her a little relief  of a dull and cheerless
kind they were auditing accounts and something
occurred in the course of their labours which led oak
to say speaking of boldwood  hell never forget you
maam never
then out came her trouble before she was aware 
and she told him how she had again got into the toils
what boldwood had asked her and how he was ex
pecting her assent the most mournful reason of all
for my agreeing to it she said sadly and the true
reason why i think to do so for good or for evil is this
  it is a thing i have not breathed to a living soul as
yeti believe that if i dont give my word hell go out
of his mind
really do ye said gabriel gravely
i believe this she continued with reckless frank
ness and heaven knows i say it in a spirit the very
reverse of vain for i am grieved and troubled to my
soul about iti believe i hold that mans future in my
hand his career depends entirely upon my treatment
of him o gabriel i tremble at my responsibility for
it is terrible
well i think this much maam as i told you years
ago said oak that his life is a total blank whenever
he isnt hoping for ee but i cant supposei hope
that nothing so dreadful hangs on to it as you fancy
his natural manner has always been dark and strange
you know but since the case is so sad and oddiike
why dont ye give the conditional promise i think i
would
but is it right some rash acts of my past life
have taught me that a watched woman must have very
much circumspection to retain only a very little credit
and i do want and long to be discreet in this and
six years  why we may all be in our graves by that
bathsheba talks with oak
time even if mr troy does not come back again which
he may not impossibly do such thoughts give a sort
of absurdity to the scheme now isnt it preposterous
gabriel however he came to dream of it i cannot think
but is it wrong you know  you are older than i
eight years older maam
yes eight years  and is it wrong
perhaps it would be an uncommon agreement for a
man and woman to make  i dont see anything really
wrong about it said oak slowly in fact the very
thing that makes it doubtful if you ought to marry en
under any condition that is your not caring about him
  for i may suppose    
yes you may suppose that love is wanting she
said shortly love is an utterly bygone sorry worn
out miserable thing with me  for him or any one else
well your want of love seems to me the one thing
that takes away harm from such an agreement with him
if wild heat had to do wi it making ye long to over
come the awkwardness about your husbands vanishing
it mid be wrong  but a coldhearted agreement to oblige
a man seems different somehow the real sin maam
in my mind lies in thinking of ever wedding wi a man
you dont love honest and true
that im willing to pay the penalty of said bath
sheba firmly  you know gabriel this is what i can
not get off my conscience  that i once seriously injured
him in sheer idleness if i had never played a trick
upon him he would never have wanted to marry me
o if i could only pay some heavy damages in money
to him for the harm i did and so get the sin off my
soul that way well theres the debt which can
only be discharged in one way and i believe i am
bound to do it if it honestly lies in my power without
any consideration of my own future at all when a
rake gambles away his expectations the fact that it is
an inconvenient debt doesnt make him the less liable
ive been a rake and the single point i ask you is con
sidering that my own scruples and the fact that in the
eye of the law my husband is only missing will keep
any man from marrying me until seven years have
passed  am i free to entertain such an idea even
though tis a sort of penance  for it will be that i
hate the act of marriage under such circumstances and
the class of women i should seem to belong to by doing
it
it seems to me that all depends upon wher you
think as everybody else do that your husband is
dead
i shall get to i suppose because i cannot help
feeling what would have brought him back long before
this time if he had lived
well then in religious sense you will be as free
to think o marrying again as any real widow of one
years standing but why dont ye ask mr thirdlys
advice on how to treat mr boldwood
no when i want a broadminded opinion for
general enlightenment distinct from special advice i
never go to a man who deals in the subject pro
fessionally so i like the parsons opinion on law the
lawyers on doctoring the doctors on business and my
businessmans  that is yours  on morals
and on love    
my own
im afraid theres a hitch in that argument said
oak with a grave smile
she did not reply at once and then saying good
evening mr oak went away
she had spoken frankly and neither asked nor ex
pected any reply from gabriel more satisfactory than
that she had obtained yet in the centremost parts of
her complicated heart there existed at this minute a
little pang of disappointment for a reason she would
not allow herself to recognize oak had not once
wished her free that he might marry her himself  had
not once said i could wait for you as well as he
that was the insect sting not that she would have
listened to any such hypothesis o no  for wasnt
she saying all the time that such thoughts of the future
were improper and wasnt gabriel far too poor a man
to speak sentiment to her yet he might have just
hinted about that old love of his and asked in a playful
offhand way if he might speak of it it would have
seemed pretty and sweet if no more and then she
would have shown how kind and inoffensive a womans
no can sometimes be but to give such cool advice
  the very advice she had asked for  it ruffled our
heroine all the afternoon
converging courses
        i
christmaseve came and a party that boldwood
was to give in the evening was the great subject of talk
in weatherbury it was not that the rarity of christmas
parties in the parish made this one a wonder but that
boldwood should be the giver the announcement
had had an abnormal and incongruous sound as if one
should hear of croquetplaying in a cathedral aisle or
that some muchrespected judge was going upon the
stage that the party was intended to be a truly jovial
one there was no room for doubt a large bough of
mistletoe had been brought from the woods that day and
suspended in the hall of the bachelors home holly
and ivy had followed in armfuls from six that morning
till past noon the huge wood fire in the kitchen roared
and sparkled at its highest the kettle the saucepan and
the threeiegged pot appearing in the midst of the flames
like shadrach meshach and abednego  moreover
roasting and basting operations were continually
carried on in front of the genial blaze
as it grew later the fire was made up in the large
long hall into which the staircase descended and all
encumbrances were cleared out for dancing the log
which was to form the backbrand of the evening fire
was the uncleft trunk of a tree so unwieldy that it could
be neither brought nor rolled to its place  and accord
ingly two men were to be observed dragging and heaving
it in by chains and levers as the hour of assembly drew
near
in spite of all this the spirit of revelry was wanting
in the atmosphere of the house such a thing had
never been attempted before by its owner and it was
now done as by a wrench intended gaieties would
insist upon appearing like solemn grandeurs the organ
ization of the whole effort was
carried out coldlyby
hirelings and a shadow seemed to move about the
rooms saying that the proceedings were unnatural to
the place and the lone man who lived therein and hence
not good
bathsheba was at this time in her room dressing for
the event she had called for candles and liddy
entered and placed one on each side of her mistresss
glass
dont go away liddy said bathsheba almost
timidly i am foolishly agitatedi cannot tell why
i wish i had not been obliged to go to this dance but
theres no escaping now i have not spoken to mr
boldwood since the autumn when i promised to see
him at christmas on business but i had no idea there
was to be anything of this kind
but i would go now said liddy who was going
with her for boldwood had been indiscriminate in his
invitations
yes i shall make my appearance of course said
bathsheba  but i am the cause of the party and that
upsets me  dont tell liddy
o no maam you the cause of it maam 
yes i am the reason of the partyi if it had
not been for me there would never have been one i
cant explain any more  theres no more to be explained
i wish i had never seen weatherbury
thats wicked of you  to wish to be worse off than
you are
no liddy i have never been free from trouble
since i have lived here and this party is likely to bring
me more now fetch my black silk dress and see how
it sits upon me
but you will leave off that surely maam you
have been a widowiady fourteen months and ought to
brighten up a little on such a night as this
is it necessary no i will appear as usual for if
i were to wear any light dress people would say things
about me and i should seem to he rejoicing when i am
solemn all the time the party doesnt suit me a bit
but never mind stay and help to finish me off
                     iii
boldwood was dressing also at this hour a tailor
from casterbridge was with him assisting him in the
operation of trying on a new coat that had just beem
brought home
never had boldwood been so fastidious unreasonable
about the fit and generally difficult to please the
tailor walked round and round him tugged at the waist
pulled the sleeve pressed out the collar and for the
first time in his experience boldwood was not bored
times had been when the farmer had exclaimed against
all such niceties as childish but now no philosophic or
hasty rebuke whatever was provoked by this man for
attaching as much importance to a crease in the coat
as to an earthquake in south america boldwood at
last expressed himself nearly satisfied and paid the bill
the tailor passing out of the door just as oak came in
to report progress for the day
oh oak said boldwood i shall of course see
you here tonight make yourself merry i am deter
mined that neither expense nor trouble shall be spared
ill try to be here sir though perhaps it may not
be very early said gabriel quietly i am glad indeed
to see such a change in ee from what it used to be
 yesi must own iti am bright tonight  cheerful
and more than cheerfuiso much so that i am almost
sad again with the sense that all of it is passing away
and sometimes when i am excessively hopeful and
blithe a trouble is looming in the distance  so that i
often get to look upon gloom in me with content and
to fear a happy mood still this may be absurdi feel
that it is absurd perhaps my day is dawning at last
i hope it ill be a long and a fair one
thank you  thank you yet perhaps my cheerfui
mess rests on a slender hope and yet i trust my hope
it is faith not hope i think this time i reckon with
my host  oak my hands are a little shaky or some
thing i cant tie this neckerchief properly perhaps
you will tie it for me the fact is i have not been well
lately you know
i am sorry to hear that sir
oh its nothing i want it done as well as you can
please is there any late knot in fashion oak
i dont know sir said oak his tone had sunk to
sadness
boldwood approached gabriel and as oak tied the
neckerchief the farmer went on feverishly 
does a woman keep her promise gabriel
if it is not inconvenient to her she may
  or rather an implied promise
i wont answer for her implying said oak with
faint bitterness thats a word as full o holes as a
sieve with them
oak dont talk like that you have got quite
cynical lately  how is it we seem to have shifted our
positions i have become the young and hopeful man
and you the old and unbelieving one however does
a woman keep a promise not to marry but to enter on
an engagement to marry at some time now you
know women better than itell me
i am afeard you honour my understanding too much
however she may keep such a promise if it is made
with an honest meaning to repair a wrong
it has not gone far yet but i think it will soon 
yes i know it will he said in an impulsive whisper
i have pressed her upon the subject and she inclines
to be kind to me and to think of me as a husband at
a long future time and thats enough for me how
can i expect more she has a notion that a woman
should not marry within seven years of her husbands
disappearance  that her own self shouldnt i mean 
because his body was not found it may be merely
this legal reason which influences her or it may be a
religious one but she is reluctant to talk on the point
yet she has promised  implied  that she will ratify an
engagement tonight
seven years murmured oak
no no  its no such thing he said with im
patience five years nine months and a few days
fifteen months nearly have passed since he vanished
and is there anything so wonderful in an engagement of
little more than five years
it seems long in a forward view dont build too
much upon such promises sir remember you have
once ben deceived her meaning may be good but
there  shes young yet
deceived never  said boldwood vehemently
she never promised me at that first time and hence
she did not break her promise if she promises me
shell marry me bathsheba is a woman to her word
                     iv
troy was sitting in a corner of the white hart
tavern at casterbridge smoking and drinking a steaming
mixture from a glass a knock was given at the door
and pennyways entered
well have you seen him troy inquired pointing
to a chair
boldwood
no  lawyer long
he wadn at home i went there first too
thats a nuisance
tis rather i suppose
yet i dont see that because a man appears to be
drowned and was not he should be liable for anything
i shant ask any lawyer  not i
but thats not it exactly if a man changes his
name and so forth and takes steps to deceive the world
and his own wife hes a cheat and that in the eye of
the law is ayless a rogue and that is ayless a lammocken
vagabond and thats a punishable situation
haha well done pennyways troy had laughed
but it was with some anxiety that he said now what
i want to know is this do you think theres really
anything going on between her and boldwood upon
my soul i should never have believed it how she
must detest me have you found out whether she
has encouraged him
i haent been able to learn theres a deal of
feeling on his side seemingly but i dont answer for
her i didnt know a word about any such thing till
yesterday and all i heard then was that she was gwine
to the party at his house tonight this is the first
time she has ever gone there they say and they say
that sheve not so much as spoke to him since they were
at greenhill fair but what can folk believe ot  how
ever shes not fond of him  quite offish and quite care
less i know
im not so sure of that shes a handsome
woman pennyways is she not own that you never
saw a finer or more splendid creature in your life
upon my honour when i set eyes upon her that day
i wondered what i could have been made of to be able
to leave her by herself so long and then i was
hampered with that bothering show which im free of
at last thank the stars he smoked on awhile and
then added how did she look when you passed by
yesterday
oh she took no great heed of me ye may well
fancy but she looked well enough fars i know just
flashed her haughty eyes upon my poor scram body and
then let them go past me to what was yond much as if
id been no more than a leafless tree she had just got
off her mare to look at the last wringdown of cider for
the year she had been riding and so her colours were
up and her breath rather quick so that her bosom
plimmed and feliplimmed and felievery time plain
to my eye ay and there were the fellers round her
wringing down the cheese and bustling about and
saying ware o the pommy maam  twill spoil yer
gown never mind me says she then gabe
brought her some of the new cider and she must
needs go drinking it through a strawmote and not in
a nateral way at all liddy says she bring indoors
a few gallons and ill make some ciderwine sergeant
i was no more to her than a morsel of scroffin the fuei
house
i must go and find her out at once  o yes i see
thati must go oak is head man still isnt he
yes a blieve and at little weatherbury farm
too he manages everything
twill puzzle him to manage her or any other man
of his compass
i dont know about that she cant do without
him and knowing it well hes pretty independent
and sheve a few soft corners to her mind though
ive never been able to get into one the devils int
ah baily shes a notch above you and you must
own it a higher class of animaia finer tissue how
ever stick to me and neither this haughty goddess
dashing piece of womanhood junowife of mine juno
was a goddess you know nor
anybody else shall hurt
you but all this wants looking into i perceive
what with one thing and another i see that my work
is well cut out for me
                    v
how do i look tonight liddy said bathsheba
giving a final adjustment to her dress before leaving the
glass
i never saw you look so well before yesill tell
you when you looked like it  that night a year and a
half ago when you came in so wildiike and scolded us
for making remarks about you and mr troy
everybody will think that i am setting myself to
captivate mr boldwood i suppose she murmured
at least theyll say so cant my hair be brushed
down a little flatter i dread going  yet i dread the
risk of wounding him by staying away
anyhow maam you cant well be dressed plainer
than you are unless you go in sackcloth at once tis
your excitement is what makes you look so noticeable
tonight
i dont know whats the matter i feel wretched at
one time and buoyant at another i wish i could have
continued quite alone as i have been for the last year
or so with no hopes and no fears and no pleasure and
no grief
now just suppose mr boldwood should ask you
  only just suppose it  to run away with him what
would you do maam
liddy  none of that said bathsheba gravely
mind i wont hear joking on any such matter do
you hear
i beg pardon maam but knowing what rum
things we women be i just said  however i wont
speak of it again
no marrying for me yet for many a year if ever
twill be for reasons very very different from those you
think or others will believe now get my cloak for it
is time to go
                        vi
oak said boldwood before you go i want to
mention what has been passing in my mind lately 
that little arrangement we made about your share in the
farm i mean that share is small too small consider
ing how little i attend to business now and how much
time and thought you give to it well
since the world
is brightening for me i want to show my sense of it
by increasing yopur proportion in the partnership ill
make a memorandum of the arrangement which struck
me as likely to be convenient for i havent time to talk
about it now and then well discuss it at our leisure
my intention is ultimately to retire from the manage
ment altogether and until you can take all the expendi
ture upon your shoulders ill be a sleeping partner in
the stock then if i marry her  and i hopei feel i
shall why    
pray dont speak of it sir said oak hastily we
dont know what may happen so many upsets may
befall ee theres many a slip as they say  and i
would advise youi know youll pardon me this once 
not to be too sure
i know i know but the feeling i have about in
creasing your share is on account of what i know of you
oak i have learnt a little about your secret your
interest in her is more than that of bailiff for an em
ployer but you have behaved like a man and i as a
sort of successful rivaisuccessful partly through your
goodness of heart  should like definitely to show my
sense of your friendship under what must have been a
great pain to you
o thats not necessary thank ee said oak
hurriedly i must get used to such as that other
men have and so shall i
oak then left him he was uneasy on boldwoods
account for he saw anew that this constant passion
of the farmer made him not the man he once had
been
as boldwood continued awhile in his room alone 
ready and dressed to receive his company  the mood of
anxiety about his appearance seemed to pass away and
to be succeeded by a deep solemnity he looked out
of the window and regarded the dim outline of the trees
upon the sky and the twilight deepening to darkness
then he went to a locked closet and took from
a locked drawer therein a small circular case the size of
a pilibox and was about to put it into his pocket but
he lingered to open the cover and take a momentary
glance inside it contained a womans fingerring set
all the way round with small
diamonds and from its
appearance had evidently been recently purchased
boldwoods eyes dwelt upon its many sparkles a long
time though that its material aspect concerned him
little was plain from his manner and mien which were
those of a mind following out the presumed thread of
that jewels future history
the noise of wheels at the front of the house became
audible boldwood closed the box stowed it away
carefully in his pocket and went out upon the landing
the old man who was his indoor factotum came at the
same moment to the foot of the stairs
they be coming siriots of em  afoot and a
driving
i was coming down this moment those wheels i
heard  is it mrs troy
no sir  tis not she yet
a reserved and sombre expression had returned to
boldwoods face again but it poorly cloaked his feei
ings when he pronounced bathshebas name and his
feverish anxiety continued to show its existence by a
galloping motion of his fingers upon the side of his thigh
as he went down the stairs
                   vii
how does this cover me said troy to pennyways
nobody would recognize me now im sure
he was buttoning on a heavy grey overcoat of
noachian cut with cape and high collar the latter being
erect and rigid like a girdling wall and nearly reaching
to the verge of travelling cap which was pulled down
over his ears
pennyways snuffed the candle and then looked up
and deliberately inspected troy
youve made up your mind to go then he
said
made up my mind yes of course i have
why not write to her tis a very queer corner
that you have got into sergeant you see all these things
will come to light if you go back and they wont sound
well at all faith if i was you id even bide as you be
  a single man of the name of francis a good wife is
good but the best wife is not so good
as no wife at all
now thats my outspoke mind and ive been called a
longheaded feller here and there
all nonsense said troy angrily there she is
with plenty of money and a house and farm and
horses and comfort and here am i living from hand to
mouth  a needy adventurer besides it is no use
talking now it is too late and i am glad of it  ive been
seen and recognized here this very afternoon i should
have gone back to her the day after the fair if it hadnt
been for you talking about the law and rubbish about
getting a separation and i dont put it off any longer
what the deuce put it into my head to run away at all
i cant think humbugging sentiment  thats what it
was but what man on earth was to know that his wife
would be in such a hurry to get rid of his name
i should have known it shes bad enough for
anything
pennyways mind who you are talking to
well sergeant all i say is this that if i were you id
go abroad again where i came from  tisnt too late to do
it now i wouldnt stir up the business and get a bad
name for the sake of living with her  for all that about
your playacting is sure to come out you know although
you think otherwise my eyes and limbs therell be a
racket if you go back just now  in the middle of bold
woods christmasing
hm yes i expect i shall not be a very welcome
guest if he has her there said the sergeant with a slight
laugh a sort of alonzo the brave and when i go in
the guests will sit in silence and fear and all laughter
and pleasure will be hushed and the lights in the
chamber burn blue and the worms  ugh horrible 
ring for some more brandy pennyways i felt an
awful shudder just then well what is there besides
a sticki must have a walkingstick
pennyways now felt himself to be in something of a
difficulty for should bathsheba and troy become recon
ciled it would be necessary to regain her good opinion
if he would secure the patronage of her husband i
sometimes think she likes you yet and is a good woman
at bottom he said as a saving sentence but theres
no telling to a certainty from a bodys outside well
youll do as you like about going of course sergeant
and as for me ill do as you tell me
now let me see what the time is said troy after
emptying his glass in one draught as he stood half
past six oclock i shall not hurry along the road and
shall be there then before nine
concurritur
concurritur  horae momento
outside the front of boldwoods house a group of
men stood in the dark with their faces towards the door
which occasionally opened and closed for the passage of
some guest or servant when a golden rod of light would
stripe the ground for the moment and vanish again
leaving nothing outside but the glowworm shine of the
pale lamp amid the evergreens over the door
he was seen in casterbridge this afternoon  so the
boy said one of them remarked in a whisper and l
for one believe it his body was never found you know
tis a strange story said the next you may
depend upont that she knows nothing about it
not a word
perhaps he dont mean that she shall said another
man
if hes alive and here in the neighbourhood he
means mischief said the first poor young thing
i do pity her if tis true hell drag her to the dogs
o no hell settle down quiet enough said one
disposed to take a more hopeful view of the case
what a fool she must have been ever to have had
anything to do with the man she is so selfwilled and
independent too that one is more minded to say it
serves her right than pity her
no no i dont hold with ee there she was no
otherwise than a girl mind and how couid she tell what
the man was made of if tis really true tis too hard
a punishment and more than she ought to hae  hullo
whos that this was to some footsteps that were
heard approaching
william smallbury said a dim figure in the shades
coming up and joining them dark as a hedge to
night isnt it i all but missed the plank over the river
athart there in the bottom 
never did such a thing
before in my life be ye any of boldwoods workfolk
he peered into their faces
yes  all o us we met here a few minutes ago
oh i hear now  thats sam samway  thought i
knowed the voice too going in
presently but i say william samway whispered
have ye heard this strange tale
what  that about sergeant troy being seen dye
mean souls said smallbury also lowering his voice
ay in casterbridge
yes i have laban tall named a hint of it to me
but now  but i dont think it hark here laban
comes himself a blieve a footstep drew near
laban
yes tis i said tall
have ye heard any more about that
no said tall joining the group and im in
clined to think wed better keep quiet if so be tis not
true twill flurry her and do her much harm to repeat
it and if so be tis true twill do no good to forestall
her time o trouble god send that it mid be a lie for
though henery fray and some of em do speak against
her shes never been anything but fair to me shes
hot and hasty but shes a brave girl wholl never tell a
lie however much the truth may harm her and ive no
cause to wish her evil
she never do tell womens little lies thats true  and
tis a thing that can be said of very few ay all the
harm she thinks she says to yer face theres nothing
underhand wi her
they stood silent then every man busied with his
own thoughts during which interval sounds of merri
ment could be heard within then the front door again
opened the rays streamed out the weliknown form of
boldwood was seen in the rectangular area of light the
door closed and boldwood walked slowly down the path
tis master one of the men whispered as he neared
them wed better stand quiet  hell go in again
directly he would think it unseemly o us to be
loitering here
boldwood came on and passed by the men without
seeing them they being under the bushes on the grass
he paused leant over the gate and breathed a long
breath they heard low words come from him
i hope to god shell come or this night will be
nothing but misery to me o my darling my darling
why do you keep me in suspense like this
he said this to himself and they all distinctly heard
it boldwood remained silent after that and the noise
from indoors was again just audible until a few minutes
later light wheels could be distinguished coming down
the hill they drew nearer and ceased at the gate
boldwood hastened back to the door and opened it
and the light shone upon bathsheba coming up the
path
boldwood compressed his emotion to mere welcome
the men marked her light laugh and apology as she met
him he took her into the house and the door closed
again
gracious heaven i didnt know it was like that with
him said one of the men i thought that fancy of
his was over long ago
you dont know much of master if you thought
that said samway
i wouldnt he should know we heard what a said
for the world remarked a third
i wish we had told of the report at once the first
uneasily continued more harm may come of this than
we know of poor mr boldwood it will be hard upon
en i wish troy was in      well god forgive me
for such a wish a scoundrel to play a poor wife such
tricks nothing has prospered in weatherbury since he
came here and now ive no heart to go in lets
look into warrens for a few minutes first shall us
neighbours
samway tall and smallbury agreed to go to warrens
and went out at the gate the remaining ones entering
the house the three soon drew near the malthouse
approaching it from the adjoining orchard and not by
way of the street the pane of glass was illuminated
as usual smallbury was a little in advance of the rest
when pausing he turned suddenly to his companions
and said hist see there
the light from the pane was now perceived to be
shining not upon the ivied wall as usual but upon some
object close to the glass it was a human face
lets come closer whispered samway and they
approached on tiptoe there was no disbelieving the
report any longer troys face was almost close to the
pane and he was looking in not only was he looking in
but he appeared to have been arrested by a conversation
which was in progress in the malthouse the voices of
the interlocutors being those of oak and the maltster
the spree is all in her honour isnt it  hey said
the old man although he made believe tis only
keeping up o christmas
i cannot say replied oak
o tis true enough faith i cannot understand
farmer boldwood being such a fool at his time of life
as to ho and hanker after thik woman in the way a do
and she not care a bit about en
the men after recognizing troys features withdrew
across the orchard as quietly as they had come the
air was big with bathshebas fortunes tonight  every
word everywhere concerned her when they were quite
out of earshot all by one instinct paused
it gave me quite a turn  his face said tall
breathing
and so it did me said samway whats to be
done
i dont see that tis any busincss of ours smallbury
murmured dubiously
but it is tis a thing which is everybodys business
said samway we know very well that masters on a
wrong tack and that shes quite in the dark and we
should let em know at once laban you know her
best  youd better go and ask to speak to her
i baint fit for any such thing said laban nervously
i should think william ought to do it if anybody hes
oldest
i shall have nothing to do with it said smallbury
tis a ticklish business altogether why hell go on
to her himself in a few minutes yell see
we dont know that he will come laban
very well if i must i must i suppose tall reluct
antly answered what must i say
just ask to see master
o no i shant speak to mr boldwood if i tell
anybody twill be mistress
very well said samway
laban then went to the door when he opened it
the hum of bustle rolled out as a wave upon a still
strand  the assemblage being immediately inside the
haliand was deadened to a murmur as he closed it
again each man waited intently and looked around at
the dark tree tops gently rocking against the sky and
occasionally shivering in a slight wind as if he took
interest in the scene which neither did one of them
began walking up and down and then came to where
he started from and stopped again with a sense that
walking was thing not worth doing now
i should think laban must have seen mistress by
this time said smallbury breaking the silence per
haps she wont come and speak to him
the door opened tall appeared and joined them
well said both
i didnt like to ask for her after all laban faltered
out they were all in such a stir trying to put a little
spirit into the party somehow the fun seems to hang
fire though everythings there that a heart can desire
and i couldnt for my soul interfere and throw damp
upon it  if twas to save my life i couldnt
i suppose we had better all go in together said
samway gloomily perhaps i may have a chance of
saying a word to master
so the men entered the hall which was the room
sellected and arranged for the gathering because of its
size the younger men and maids were at last just
beginning to dance bathshesba had been perplexed
how to act for she was not much more than a slim
young maid herself and the weight of stateliness sat
heavy upon her sometimes she thought she ought
not to have come under any circumstances then she
considered what cold unkindness that would have been
and finally resolved
upon the middle course of staying
for about an hour only and gliding off unobserved
having from the first made up her mind that she could
on no account dance sing or take any active part in
the proceedings
her allotted hour having been passed in chatting
and looking on bathsheba told liddy not to hurry her
self and went to the small parlour to prepare for
departure which like the hall was decorated with holly
and ivy and well lighted up
nobody was in the room but she had hardly
horae momento
been there a moment when the master of the house
entered
mrs troy  you are not going he said weve
hardly begun
if youll excuse me i should like to go now her
manner was restive for she remembered her promise
and imagined what he was about to say but as it is
not late she added i can walk home and leave my
man and liddy to come when they choose
ive been trying to get an opportunity of speaking
to you said boldwood you know perhaps what i
long to say
bathsheba silently looked on the floor
you do give it he said eagerly
what she whispered
now thats evasion why the promise i dont
want to intrude upon you at all or to let it become
known to anybody but do give your word a
mere business compact you know between two people
who are beyond the influence of passicn boldwood
knew how false this picture was as regarded himself
but he had proved that it was the only tone in which
she would allow him to approach her a promise to
marry me at the end of five years and threequarters
you owe it to me
i feel that i do said bathsheba  that is if you
demand it but i am a changed woman  an unhappy
woman  and not  not    
 you are still a very beautiful woman said boldwood
honesty and pure conviction suggested the remark
unaccompanied by any perception that it might have
been adopted by blunt flattery to soothe and win her
however it had not much effect now for for she said
in a
passionless murmur which was in itself a proof of
her words i have no feeling in the matter at all
and i dont at all know what is right to do in my
diddicult position and i have nobody to advise me but
i give my promise if i must i give it as the rendering of
a debt conditionally of course on my being a widow
youll marry me between five and six years hence  
dont press me too hard ill marry nobody
else
 but surely you will name the time or theres nothing
in the promise at all
o i dont know pray let me go she said her
bosom beginning to rise i am afraid what to do
want to be just to you and to be that seems to be wrong
ing myself and perhaps it is breaking the commandments
there is considerable doubt of his death and then it
is dreadful let me ask a solicitor mr boldwood if i
ought or no
say the words dear one and the subject shall be
dismissed  a blissrul loving intimacy of six years and
then marriage  o bathsheba say them he begged in
a husky voice unable to sustain the forms of mere
friendship any longer promise yourself to me i
deserve it indeed i do for i have loved you more than
anybody in the world and if i said hasty words and
showed uncalledfor heat of manner towards you believe
me dear i did not mean to distress you  i was in
agony bathsheba and i did not know what i said
you wouldnt let a dog suffer what i have suffered
could you but know it sometimes i shrink from your
knowing what i have felt for you and sometimes i am
distressed that all of it you never will know be
gracious and give up a little to me when i would give
up mylife for you
the trimmings of her dress as they quivered against
the light showed how agitated she was and at last she
burst out crying and youll not  press me  about
anything more  if i say in five or six years she
sobbed when she had power to frame the words
yes then ill leave it to time
very well if he does not return ill marry you
in six years from this day if we both live she said
solemnly
and youll take this as a token from me
boldwood had come close to her side and now he
clasped one of her hands in both his own and lifted it
to his breast
what is it oh i cannot wear a ring she ex
claimed on seeing what he held besides i wouldnt
have a soul know that its an engagement perhaps it
is improper besides we are not engaged in the usual
sense are we  dont insist mr boldwood  dont
in her trouble at not being able to get her hand away
from him at once she stamped passionately on the floor
with one foot and tears crowded to her eyes again
it means simply a pledge  no sentiment  the seal
of a practical compact he said more quictly but still
retaining her hand in his firm grasp come now
and boldwood slipped the ring on her finger
i cannot wear it she said weeping as if her heart
would break  you frighten me almost so wild a
scheme please let me go home
 only tonight  wear it just tonight to please me
bathsheba sat down in a chair and buried her face
in her handkerchief though boldwood kept her hand
yet at length she said in a sort of hopeless whisper 
very well then i will tonight if you wish it so
earnestly now loosen my hand i will indeed i will
wear it tonight
and it shall be the beginning of a pleasant secret
courtship of six years with a wedding at the end
it must be i suppose since you will have it so
she said fairly beaten into nonresistance
boldwood pressed her hand and allowed it to drop
in her lap i am happy now he said god bless
you
he left the room and when he thought she might
be sufficiently composed sent one of the maids to her
bathsheba cloaked the effects of the late scene as she
best could followed the girl and in a few moments
came downstairs with her hat and cloak on ready to go
to get to the door it was necessary to pass through the
hall and before doing so she paused on the bottom of
the staircase which descended into one corner to take
a last look at the gathering
there was no music or dancing in progress just now
at the
lower end which had been arranged for the work
folk specially a group conversed in whispers and with
clouded looks boldwood was standing by the fireplace
and he too though so absorbed in visions arising from
her promise that he scarcely saw anything seemed at
that moment to have observed their peculiar manner
and their looks askance
what is it you are in doubt about men he said
one of them turned and replied uneasily it was
something laban heard of thats all sir
news anybody married or engaged born or
dead inquired the farmer gaily tell it to us tall
one would think from your looks and mysterious ways
that it was something very dreadful indeed
o no sir nobody is dead said tall
i wish somebody was said samway in a whisper
what do you say samway asked boldwood some
what sharply if you have anything to say speak out
if not get up another dance
mrs troy has come downstairs said samway to
tall if you want to tell her you had better do it now
do you know what they mean the farmer asked
bathsheba across the room
i dont in the least said bathsheba
there was a smart rapping at the door one of
the men opened it instantly and went outside
mrs troy is wanted he said on returning
quite ready said bathsheba though i didnt
tell them to send
it is a stranger maam said the man by the door
a stranger she said
ask him to come in said boldwood
the message was given and troy wrapped up to
his eyes as we have seen him stood in the doorway
there was an unearthly silence all looking towards
the newcomer those who had just learnt that he
was in the neighbourhood recognized him instantly
those who did not were perplexed nobody noted
bathsheba she was leaning on the stairs her brow
had heavily contracted her whole face was
pallid her
lips apart her eyes rigidly staring at their visitor
boldwood was among those who did not notice that
he was troy come in come in he repeated
cheerfully and drain a christmas beaker with us
stranger
troy next advanced into the middle of the room
took off his cap turned down his coatcollar and looked
boldwood in the face even then boldwood did not
recognize that the impersonator of heavens persistent
irony towards him who had once before broken in
upon his bliss scourged him and snatched his delight
away had come to do these things a second time
troy began to laugh a mechanical laugh boldwood
recognized him now
troy turned to bathsheba the poor girls wretched
ness at this time was beyond all fancy or narration
she had sunk down on the lowest stair and there
she sat her mouth blue and dry and her dark eyes
fixed vacantly upon him as if she wondered whether it
were not all a terrible illusion
then troy spoke bathsheba i come here for
you
she made no reply
 come home with me come
bathsheba moved her feet a little but did not rise
troy went across to her
come madam do you hear what i say he said
peremptorily
a strange voice came from the fireplace  a voice
sounding far off and confined as if from a dungeon
hardly a soul in the assembly recognized the thin tones
to be those of boldwood sudden dispaire had trans
formed him
bathsheba go with your husband
nevertheless she did not move the truth was
that bathsheba was beyond the pale of activity  and
yet not in a swoon she was in a state of mental gutta
light at the same time no obscuration was apparent
from without
troy stretched out his hand to pull her her towards him
when she quickly shrank back this visible dread of
him seemed to irritate troy and he seized her arm and
pulled it sharply
whether his grasp pinched her or
whether his mere touch was the ccause was never known
but at the moment of his seizure she writhed and gave
a quick low scream
the scream had been heard but a few seconds when
it was followed by sudden deafening report that
echoed through the room and stupefied them all the
oak partition shook with the concussion and the place
was filled with grey smoke
in bewilderment they turned their eyes to boldwood
at his back as stood before the fireplace was a gun
rack as is usual in farmhouses constructed to hold two
guns when bathsheba had cried out in her husbands
grasp boldwoods face of gnashing despair had changed
the veins had swollen and a frenzied look had gleamed
in his eye he had turned quickly taken one of the
guns cocked it and at once discharged it at troy
troy fell the distance apart of the two men was
so small that the charge of shot did not spread in the
least but passed like a bullet into his body he uttered
a long guttural sigh  there was a contraction  an exten
sion  then his muscles relaxed and he lay still
boldwood was seen through the smoke to be now
again engaged with the gun it was doublebarrelled
and he had meanwhile in some way fastened his hand
kerchief to the trigger and with his foot on the other
end was in the act of turning the second barrel upon
himself samway his man was the first to see this and
in the midst of the general horror darted up to him
boldwood had already twitched the handkerchief and
the gun exploded a second time sending its contents
by a timely blow from samway into the beam which
crossed the ceiling
well it makes no difference boldwood gasped
there is another way for me to die
then he broke from samway crossed the room to
bathsheba and kissed her hand he put on his hat
opened the door and went into the darkness nobody
thinking of preventing him
after the shock
boldwood passed into the high road and turned
in the direction of casterbridge here he walked at
an even steady pace over yalbury hill along the dead
level beyond mounted mellstock hill and between
eleven and twelve oclock crossed the moor into the town
the streets were nearly deserted now and the waving
lampflames only lighted up rows of grey shopshutters
and strips of white paving upon which his step echoed
as his passed along he turned to the right and halted
before an archway of heavy stonework which was closed
by an iron studded pair of doors this was the entrance
to the gaol and over it a lamp was fixed the light en
abling the wretched traveller to find a belipull
the small wicket at last opened and a porter
appeared boldwood stepped forward and said some
thing in a low tone when after a delay another man
came boldwood entered and the door was closed
behind him and he walked the world no more
long before this time weatherbury had been
thoroughly aroused and the wild deed which had ter
minated boldwoods merrymaking became known to
all of those out of the house oak was one of the
first to hear of the catastophe and when he entered
the room which was about five minutes after boldwoods
exit the scene was terrible all the female guests were
huddled aghast against the walls like sheep in a storm
and the men were bewildered as to what to do as for
bathsheba she had changed she was sitting on the
floor beside the body of troy his head pillowed in her
lap where she had herself lifted it with one hand she
held her handkerchief to his breast and covered the
wound though scarcely a single drop of blood had
flowed and with the other she tightly clasped one of
his the household convulsion had made her herself
again the
temporary coma had ceased and activity
had come with the necessity for it deeds of endur
ance which seem ordinary in philosophy are rare in
conduct and bathsheba was astonishing all around her
now for her philosophy was her conduct and she
seldom thought practicable what she did not practise
she was of the stuff of which great mens mothers
are made she was indispensable to high generation
hated at tea parties feared in shops and loved at crises
troy recumbent in his wifes lap formed now the sole
spectacle in the middle of the spacious room
gabriel she said automatically when he entered
turning up a face of which only the weliknown lines
remained to tell him it was hers all else in the picture
having faded quite ride to casterbridge instantly
for a surgeon it is i believe useless but go mr
boldwood has shot my husband
her statement of the fact in such quiet and simple
words came with more force than a tragic declamation
and had somewhat the effect of setting the distorted
images in each mind present into proper focus oak
almost before he had comprehended anything beyond
the briefest abstract of the event hurried out of the
room saddled a horse and rode away not till he had
ridden more than a mile did it occur to him that he
would have done better by sending some other man
on this errand remaining himself in the house what
had become of boldwood he should have been
looked after was he mad  had there been a quarrel
then how had troy got there where had he come
from how did this remarkable reappearance effect
itself when he was supposed by many to be at the
bottom of the sea oak had in some slight measure
been prepared for the presence of troy by hearing a
rumour of his return just before entering boldwoods
house  but before he had weighed that information this
fatal event had been superimposed however it was too
late now to think of sending another messenger and
he rode on in the excitement of these selfinquiries
not discerning when about three miles from caster
bridge a squarefigured pedestrian passing along
under the dark hedge in the same direction as his
own
the miles necessary to be traversed and other
hindrances
incidental to the lateness of the hour and
the darkness of the night delayed the arrival of mr
aldritch the surgeon  and more than three hours
passed between the time at which the shot was fired
and that of his entering the house oak was addition
ally detained in casterbridge through having to give
notice to the authorities of what had happened and
he then found that boldwood had also entered the
town and delivercd himself up
in the meantime the surgeon having hastened into
the hall at boldwoods found it in darkness and quite
deserted he went on to the back of the house
where he discovered in the kitchen an old man of
whom he made inquiries
shes had him took away to her own house sir
said his informant
who has said the doctor
mrs troy a was quite dead sir
this was astonishing information she had no
right to do that said the doctor there will have
to be an inquest and she should have waited to know
what to do
yes sir it was hinted to her that she had better
wait till the law was known but she said law was
nothing to her and she wouldnt let her dear husbands
corpse bide neglected for folks to stare at for all the
crowners in england
mr aldritch drove at once back again up the
hill to bathshebas the first person he met was
poor liddy who seemed literally to have dwindled
smaller in these few latter hours what has been
done he said
i dont know sir said liddy with suspended
breath my mistress has done it all
where is she
 upstairs with him sir when he was brought
home and taken upstairs she said she wanted no
further help from the men and then she called me
and made me fill the bath and after that told me i
had better go and lie down because i looked so ill
then she locked herself into the room alone with him
and would not let a nurse come in or anybody at all
but i thought ld wait in the next room in case she
should want me i heard her moving about inside
for more than an 
hour but she only came out once
and that was for more candles because hers had burnt
down into the socket she said we were to let her
know when you or mr thirdly came sir
oak entered with the parson at this moment and
they all went upstairs together preceded by liddy
smallbury everything was silent as the grave when
they paused on the landing liddy knocked and
bathshebas dress was heard rustling across the room
the key turned in the lock and she opened the door
her looks were calm and nearly rigid like a slightly
animated bust of melpomene
oh mr aldritch you have come at last she
murmured from her lips merely and threw back the
door ah and mr thirdly well all is done and
anybody in the world may see him now she then
passed by him crossed the landing and entered
another room
looking into the chamber of death she had vacated
they saw by the light of the candles which were on the
drawers a tall straight shape lying at the further end
of the bedroom wrapped in white everything around
was quite orderly the doctor went in and after a
few minutes returned to the landing again where
oak and the parson still waited
it is all done indeed as she says remarked mr
aldritch in a subdued voice the body has been
undressed and properly laid out in grave clothes
gracious heaven  this mere girl she must have the
nerve of a stoic
the heart of a wife merely floated in a whisper
about the ears of the three and turning they saw
bathsheba in the midst of them then as if at that
instant to prove that her fortitude had been more of
will than of spontaneity she silently sank down between
them and was a shapeless heap of drapery on the floor
the simple consciousness that superhuman strain was
no longer required had at once put a period to her
power to continue it
they took her away into a further room and the
medical attendance which had been useless in troys
case was invaluable in bathshebas who fell into a
series of faintingfits that had a serious aspect for a
time the sufferer was got to bed 
and oak finding
from the bulletins that nothing really dreadful was to
be apprehended on her score left the house liddy
kept watch in bathshebas chamber where she heard
her mistress moaning in whispers through the dull
slow hours of that wretched night o it is my fault
  how can i live o heaven how can i live
the march following  bathsheba boldwood
we pass rapidly on into the month of march to a
breezy day without sunshine frost or dew on yai
bury hill about midway between weatherbury and
casterbridge where the turnpike road passes over
the crest a numerous concourse of people had
gathered the eyes of the greater number being fre
quently stretched afar in a northerly direction the
groups consisted of a throng of idlers a party of
javelinmen and two trumpeters and in the midst
were carriages one of which contained the high
sheriff with the idlers many of whom had mounted
to the top of a cutting formed for the road were several
weatherbury men and boys  among others poorgrass
coggan and cain ball
at the end of halfanhour a faint dust was seen in
the expected quarter and shortly after a travelling
carriage bringing one of the two judges on the western
circuit came up the hill and halted on the top the
judge changed carriages whilst a flourish was blown
by the bigcheeked trumpeters and a procession being
formed of the vehicles and javelinmen they all pro
ceeded towards the town excepting the weatherbury
men who as soon as they had seen the judge move
off returned home again to their work
 joseph i zeed you squeezing close to the carriage
said coggan as they walked did ye notice my lord
judges face 
i did said poorgrass i looked hard at en as
if i would read his very soul and there was mercy
in his eyes  or to speak with the exact truth required
of us at this solemn time in the eye that was towards
me
well i hope for the best said coggan though
bad that must be however i shant go to the trial
and id advise the rest of ye that baint wanted to bide
away twill disturb his 
mind more than anything to
see us there staring at him as if he were a show
 the very thing i said this morning observed joseph
justice is come to weigh him in the balances i said
in my reflectious way and if hes found wanting so
be it unto him and a bystander said hear hear
a man who can talk like that ought to be heard
but i dont like dwelling upon it for my few words
are my few words and not much though the speech
of some men is rumoured abroad as though by nature
formed for such
so tis joseph and now neighbours as i said
every man bide at home
the resolution was adhered to  and all waited
anxiously for the news next day their suspense
was diverted however by a discovery which was made
in the afternoon throwing more light on boldwoods
conduct and condition than any details which had
preceded it
that he had been from the time of greenhill fair
until the fatal christmas eve in excited and unusual
moods was known to those who had been intimate
with him but nobody imagined that there had shown
in him unequivocal symptoms of the mental derange
ment which bathsheha and oak alone of all others
and at different times had momentarily suspected
in a locked closet was now discovered an extraordinary
collection of articles there were several sets of ladies
dresses in the piece of sundry expensive materials
silks and satins poplins and velvets all of colours
which from bathshebas style of dress might have been
judged to be her favourites there were two muffs
sable and ermine above all there was a case of
jewellery containing four heavy gold bracelets and
several lockets and rings all of fine quality and manu
facture these things had been bought in bath and
other towns from time to time and brought home by
stealth they were all carefully packed in paper and
each package was labelled  bathsheba boldwood a
date being subjoined six years in advance in every
instance
these somewhat pathetic evidences of a mind crazed
with care and love were the subject of discourse in
warrens malthouse when oak entered from caster
bridge with tidings of the kiln glow shone upon
it told the tale sufficiently well boldwood as every
one supposed he would do had pleaded guilty and
had been sentenced to death
the conviction that boldwood had not been morally
responsible for his later acts now becam general facts
elicited previous to the trial had pointed strongly in the
same direction but they had not been of sufficient weight
to lead to an order for an examination into the state
of boldwoods mind it was astonishing now that a
presumption of insanity was raised how many collateral
circumstances were remembered to which a condition
of mental disease seemed to afford the only explanation
  among others the unprecedented neglect of his corn
stacks in the previous summer
a petition was addressed to the home secretary
advancing the circumstances which appeared to justify
a request for a reconsideration of the sentence it was
not numerously signed  by the inhabitants of caster
bridge as is usual in such cases for boldwood had
never made many friends over the counter the shops
thought it very natural that a man who by importing
direct from the producer had daringly set aside the
first great principle of provincial existence namely
that god made country villages to supply customers
to county towns should have confused ideas about
the decalogue the prompters were a few merciful
men who had perhaps too feelingly considered the
facts latterly unearthed and the result was that evidence
was taken which it was hoped might remove the crime
in a moral point of view out of the category of wilful
murder and lead it to be regarded as a sheer outcome
of madness
the upshot of the petition was waited for in weather
bury with solicitous interest the execution had been
fixed for eight oclock on a saturday morning about a
fortnight after the sentence was passed and up to
friday afternoon no answer had been recieved at
that time gabriel came from casterbridge gaol whither
he had been to wish boldwood goodbye and turned
down a bystreet to avoid the town when past the last
house he heard a hammering and lifting his bowed
head he looked back for a moment over the chimneys
he could see the upper part of the gaol entrance rich
and glowing in the afternoon sun and some moving
figures were there they were carpenters lifting a post
into a vertical position within the parapet he with
drew his eyes quickly and hastened on
it was dark when he reached home and half the
village was out to meet him
no tidings gabriel said wearily and im afraid
theres no hope ive been with him more than two
hours
do ye think he really was out of his mind when he
did it said smallbury
 i cant honestly say that i do oak replied  how
ever that we can talk of another time has there been
any change in mistress this afternoon
none at all
is she downstairs
no and getting on so nicely as she was too
shes but very little better now again than she was at
christmas she keeps on asking if you be come and
if theres news till ones wearied out wi answering her
shall i go and say youve come
no said oak theres a chance yet but i
couldnt stay in town any longer  after seeing him too
so laban  laban is here isnt he  
 yes said tall
what ive arranged is that you shall ride to town
the last thing tonight  leave here about nine and wait
a while there getting home about twelve if nothing
has been received by eleven tonight they say theres
no chance at all
i do so hope his life will be spared said liddy
if it is not shell go out of her mind too poor thing
her sufferings have been dreadful she deserves any
bodys pity
is she altered much   said coggan
if you havent seen poor mistress since christmas
you wouldnt know her said liddy  her eyes are so
miserable that shes not the same woman only two
years ago she was a romping girl and now shes this
laban departed as directed and at eleven oclock
that night 
several of the villagers strolled along the
road to casterbridge and awaited his arrivaiamong
them oak and nearly all the rest of bathshebas men
gabriels anxiety was great that boldwood might be
saved even though in his conscience he felt that he
ought to die for there had been qualities in the farmer
which oak loved at last when they all were weary
the tramp of a horse was heard in the distance 
first dead as if on turf it trode
then clattering  on the village road
in other pace than forth he yode
we shall soon know now one way or other said
coggan and they all stepped down from the bank on
which they had been standing into the road and the
rider pranced into the midst of them
is that you laban   said gabriel
yes  tis come hes not to die tis confine
ment during her majestys pleasure
hurrah said coggan with a swelling heart gods
above the devil yet
beauty in loneliness  after all
bathsheba revived with the spring the utter
prostration that had followed the low fever from which
she had sufered diminished perceptibly when all un
certainty upon every subject had come to an end
but she remained alone now for the greater part of
her time and stayed in the house or at furthest went
into the garden she shunned every one even liddy
and could be brought to make no confidences and to
ask for no sympathy
as the summer drew on she passed more of her time
in the open air and began to examine into farming
matters from sheer necessity though she never rode
out or personally superintended as at former times
one friday evening in august she walked a little way
along the road and entered the village for the first time
since the sombre event of the preceding christmas
none of the old colour had as yet come to her cheek
and its absolute paleness was heightened by the jet black
of her gown till it appeared preternatural when she
reached a little shop at the other end of the place
which stood nearly opposite to the churchyard bath
sheba heard singing inside the church and she knew
that the singers were practising she crossed the road
opened the gate and entered the graveyard the high
sills of the church windows effectually screening her
from the eyes of those gathered within her stealthy
walk was to the nook wherein troy had worked at
planting flowers upon fanny robins grave and she
came to the marble tombstone
a motion of satisfaction enlivened her face as she
read the complete inscription first came the words of
troy himself 
erected by francis troy
in beloveo memory of
fanny robin
who died october    
aged  years
unerneath this was now inscribed in new letters 
in the same grave lie
the remains of the aforesaid
francis troy
who died december th   
whilst she stood and read and meditated the tones of
the organ began again in the church and she went
with the same light step round to the porch and listened
the door was closed and the coir was learning a new
hymn bathsheba was stirred by emotions which
latterly she had assumed to be altogether dead within
her the little attenuated voices of the children
brought to her ear in destinct utterance the words they
sang without thought or comprehension 
lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom
lead thou me on
bathshebas feeling was always to some extent de
pendent upon her whim as is the case with many other
women something big came into her throat and an
uprising to her eyes  and she thought that she would
allow the imminent tears to flow if they wished they
did flow and plenteously and one fell upon the stone
bench beside her once that she had begun to cry for
she hardly knew what she could not leave off for crowd
ing thoughts she knew too well she would have given
anything in the world to be as those children were un
concerned at the meaning of their words because too
innocent to feel the necessity for any such expression
all the impassioned scenes of her brief expenence
seemed to revive with added emotion at that moment
and those scenes which had been without emotion
during enactment had emotion then yet grief came
to her rather as a luxury than as the scourge of former
times
owing to bathshebas face being buried in her hands
she did not notice a form which came quietly into the
porch and on seeing her first moved as if to retreat
then paused and regarded her bathsheba did not raise
her head for some time and when she looked round
her face was wet and her eyes drowned and dim mr
oak exclaimed she disconcerted  how long have you
been here 
a few minutes maam said oak respectfully
are you going in said bathsheba and there came
from within the church as from a prompter 
l loved the garish day and spite of fears
pride ruled my will remember not past years
i was said gabriel  i am one of the bass singers
you know i have sung bass for several months
indeed i wasnt aware of that ill leave you then
which i have loved long since and lost awhile
sang the children
dont let me drive you away mistress i think i
wont go in tonight
o no  you dont drive me away
then they stood in a state of some embarrassment
bathsheba trying to wipe her dreadfully drenched and
inflamed face without his noticing her at length oak
said ive not seen youi mean spoken to you  since
ever so long have i but he feared to bring distress
ing memories back and interrupted himself with were
you going into church 
no she said i came to see the tombstone
privately  to see if they had cut the inscription as i
wished mr oak you neednt mind speaking to me if
you wish to on the matter which is in both our minds
at this moment
and have they done it as you wished  said oak
yes come and see it if you have not already
so together they went and read the tomb eight
months 
ago gabriel murmured when he saw the date
it seems like yesterday to me
and to me as if it were years agoiong years and
i had been dead between and now i am going home
mr oak
oak walked after her i wanted to name a small
matter to you as soon as i could he said with hesitation
merrly about business and i think i may just mention it
now if youll allow me
 o yes certainly
it is that i may soon have to give up the manage
ment of your farm mrs troy the fact is i am think
ing of leaving england  not yet you know  next
spring 
leaving england she said in surprise and
genuine disappointment why gabriel what are you
going to do that for
well ive thought it best oak stammered out
california is the spot ive had in my mind to try
but it is understood everywhere that you are going
to take poor mr boldwoods farm on your own account
ive had the refusal o it tis true but nothing is
settled yet and i have reasons for gieing up i shall
finish out my year there as manager for the trustees
but no more
and what shall i do without you oh gabriel i
dont think you ought to go away youve been with
me so long  through bright times and dark times  such
old friends that as we are  that it seems unkind almost i
had fancied that if you leased the other farm as master
you might still give a helping look across at mine and
now going away
i would have willingly
 yet now that i am more helpless than ever you go
away
yes thats the ill fortune o it said gabriel in a
distressed tone and it is because of that very help
lessness that i feel bound to go good afternoon
maam  he concluded in evident anxiety to get
away and at once went out of the churchyard by a
path she could follow on no pretence whatever
bathsheba went home her mind occupied with a
new trouble which being rather harassing than deadly
was calculated to do good by diverting her from the
chronic gloom of 
her life she was set thinking a great
deal about oak and of his wich to shun her and there
occurred to bathsheba several incidents of latter in
tercourse with him which trivial when singly viewed
amounted together to a perceptible disinclination for
her society it broke upon her at length as a great
pain that her last old disciple was about to forsake her
and flee he who had believed in her and argued on
her side when all the rest of the world was against her
had at last like the others become weary and neglectful
of the old cause and was leaving her to fight her battles
alone
three weeks went on and more evidence of his
want of interest in her was forthcoming she noticed
that instead of entering the small parlour or office
where the farm accounts were kept and waiting or
leaving a memorandum as he had hitherto done during
her seclusion oak never came at all when she was likely
to be there only entering at unseasonable hours when
her presence in that part of the house was least to be
expected whenever he wanted directions he sent a
message or note with neither heading nor signature to
which she was obliged to reply in the same offhand
style poor bathsheba began to suffer now from the
most torturing sting of alia sensation that she was
despised
the autumn wore away gloomily enough amid these
melancholy conjectures and christmasday came com
pleting a year of her legal widowhood and two years
and a quarter of her life alone on examining her
heart it appeared beyond measure strange that the sub
ject of which the season might have been supposed
suggestive  the event in the hall at boldwoods  was
not agitating her at all but instead an agonizing con
viction that everybody abjured her  for what she could
not teliand that oak was the ringleader of the
recusants coming out of church that day she looked
round in hope that oak whose bass voice she had
heard rolling out from the gallery overhead in a most
unconcerned manner might chance to linger in her path
in the old way there he was as usual coming down
the path behind her but on seeing bathsheba turn he
looked aside and as soon as he got beyond the gate
and there was the barest excuse for a divergence he
made one and vanished
the next morning brought the culminating stroke
she had been expecting it long it was a formal notice
by letter from him that he should not renew his engage
ment with her for the following ladyday
bathsheba actually sat and cried over this letter most
bitterly she was aggrieved and wounded that the
possession of hopeless love from gabriel which she had
after all
grown to regard as her inalienable right for life should
have been withdrawn just at his own pleasure in this
way she was bewildered too by the prospect of having
to rely on her own resources again it seemed to herself
that she never could again acquire energy sufficient to
go to market barter and sell since troys death oak
had attended all sales and fairs for her transacting her
business at the same time with his own what should
she do now her life was becoming a desolation
so desolate was bathsheba this evening that in an
absolute hunger for pity and sympathy and miserable in
that she appeared to have outlived the only true friend
ship she had ever owned she put on her bonnet and
cloak and went down to oaks house just after sunset
guided on her way by the pale primrose rays of a
crescent moon a few days old
a lively firelight shone from the window but nobody
was visible in the room she tapped nervously and
then thought it doubtful if it were right for a single
woman to call upon a bachelor who lived alone although
he was her manager and she might be supposed to call
on business without any real impropriety gabriel
opened the door and the moon shone upon his fore
haad
mr oak said bathsheba faintly
yes i am mr oak said gabriel who have i
the honour  o how stupid of me not to know you
mistress
i shall not be your mistress much longer shall i
gabriel she said in pathetic tones
well no i suppose  but come in maam oh 
and ill get a light oak replied with some awkwardness
no not on my account
it is so seldom that i get a lady visitor that im
afraid i havent proper accommodation will you sit
down please  heres a chair and theres one too
i am sorry that my chairs all have wood scats and are
rather hard but iwas thinging of getting some new
ones oak placed two or three for her
they are quite easy enough for me
so down she sat and down sat he the fire dancing
in their faces and upon the old furniture
all asheenen
wi long years o handlen
that formed oaks array of household possessions which
sent back a dancing reflection in reply it was very
odd to these two persons who knew each other passing
well that the mere circumstance of their meeting in a
new place and in a new way should make them so
awkward and constrained in the fields or at her house
there had never been any embarrassment but now that
oak had become the entertainer their lives seemed to be
moved back again to the days when they were strangers
youll think it strange that i have come but  
o no not at all
but i thought  gabriel i have been uneasy in the
belief that i have offended you and that you are going
away on that account it grieved me very much and
i couldnt help coming
offended me as if you could do that bathsheba
havent i she asked gladly  but what are you
going away for else
i am not going to emigrate you know i wasnt
aware that you would wish me not to when i told ee or i
shouldnt ha thought of doing it he said simply i
have arranged for little weatherbury farm and shall
have it in my own hands at ladyday you know ive
had a share in it for some time still that wouldnt
prevent my attending to your business as before hadnt
it been that things have been said about us
what said bathsheba in surprise things said
about you and me what are they
i cannot tell you
it would be wiser if you were to i think you have
played the part of mentor to me many times and i dont
see why you should fear to do it now
it is nothing that you have done this time the
top and tail ot is this  that i am sniffing about here
and waiting for poor boldwoods farm with a thought
of getting you some day
getting me what does that mean
marrying o ee in plain british you asked me to
tell so you mustnt blame me
bathsheba did not look quite so alarmed as if a
cannon had been discharged by her ear which was what
oak had expected marrying me i didnt know it
was that you meant she said quietly such a thing
as that is too absurd  too soon  to think of by far
yes of course it is too absurd i dont desire any
such thing i should think that was plain enough by
this time surely surely you be the last person in the
world i think of marrying it is too absurd as you say
too  sssoon were the words i used
i must beg your pardon for correcting you but you
said too absurd and so do i
i beg your pardon too she returned with tears
in her eyes too soon was what i said but it
doesnt matter a bit  not at alibut i only meant
too soon indeed i didnt mr oak and you must
believe me
gabriel looked her long in the face but the firelight
being faint there was not much to be seen  bathsheba
he said tenderly and in surprise and coming closer
if i only knew one thing  whether you would allow me
to love you and win you and marry you after aliif i
only knew that
but you never will know she murmured
why
because you never ask
oh  oh said gabriel with a low laugh of joyous
ness my own dear  
you ought not to have sent me that harsh letter
this morning she interrupted it shows you didnt
care a bit about me and were ready to desert me like
all the rest of them it was very cruel of you consider
ing i was the first sweetheart that you ever had and
you were the first i ever had and i shall not forget it
now bathsheba was ever anybody so provoking
he said laughing  you know it was purely that i as
an unmarried man carrying on a business for you as a
very taking young woman had a proper hard part to
play  more particular that people knew i had a sort
of feeling foree and i fancied from the way we were
mentioned together that it might injure your good name
nobody knows the heat and fret i have been caused
by it
and was that all
all
oh how glad i am i came she exclaimed thank
fully as she rose from her seat i have thought so
much more of you since i fancied you did not want
even to see me again but i must be going now or i
shall be missed why gabriel she said with a slight
laugh as they went to the door it seems exactly as if
i had come courting you  how dreadful
and quite right too said oak ive danced at
your skittish heels my beautiful bathsheba for many a
long mile and many a long day and it is hard to be
grudge me this one visit
he accompanied her up the hill explaining to her
the details of his forthcoming tenure of the other farm
they spoke very little of their mutual  feeling pretty
phrases and warm expressions being probably un
necessary between such tried friends theirs was that
substantial affection which arises if any arises at all
when the two who are thrown together begin first by
knowing the rougher sides of each others character
and not the best till further on the romance growing
up in the interstices of a mass of hard prosaic reality
this goodfellowship  camaraderie   usually occurring
through similarity of pursuits is unfortunately seldom
superadded to love between the sexes because men and
women associate not in their lahours but in their
pleasures merely where however happy circumstance
permits its development the compounded feeling proves
itself to be the only love which is strong as death  that
love which many waters cannot quench nor the floods
drown beside which the passion usually called by the
name is evanescent as steam
a foggy night and morning  conclusion
the most private secret plaines wedding that it is
possible to have
those had been bathshebas words to oak one
evening some time after the event of the preceding
chapter and he meditated a full hour by the clock upon
how to carry out her wishes to the letter
a licence  o yes it must be a licence he said
to himself at last very well then first a license
on a dark night a few days later oak came with
mysterious steps from the surrogates door in caster
bridge on the way home he heard a heavy tread in
front of him and overtaking the man found him to be
coggan they walked together into the village until
they came to a little lane behind the church leading
down to the cottage of laban tall who had lately been
installed as clerk of the parish and was yet in mortal
terror at church on sundays when he heard his lone
voice among certain hard words of the psalms whither
no man ventured to follow him
well goodnight coggan said oak im going
down this way
oh said coggan surprised whats going on to
night then make so bold mr oak
it seemed rather ungenerous not to tell coggan
under the circumstances for coggan had been true as
steel all through the time of gabriels unhappiness about
bathsheba and gabriel said  you can keep a secret
coggan
youve proved me and you know
yes i have and i do know well then mistress
and i mean to get married tomorrow morning
heavens high tower and yet ive thought of
such a thing 
from time to time true i have but
keeping it so close well there tis no consarn of
amine and i wish ee joy o her
thank you coggan but i assure ee that this
great hush is not what i wished for at all or what
either of us would have wished if it hadnt been for
certain things that would make a gay wedding seem
hardly the thing bathsheba has a great wish that all
the parish shall not be in church looking at her  shes
shyiike and nervous about it in fact  so i be doing
this to humour her
ay i see quite right too i suppose i must say
and you be now going down to the clerk
yes you may as well come with me
i am afeard your labour in keeping it close will be
throwed away said coggan as they walked along
labe talls old woman will horn it all over parish in
halfanhour 
so she will upon my life i never thought of
that said oak pausing yet i must tell him to
night i suppose for hes working so far off and leaves
early
ill tell ee how we could tackle her said coggan
ill knock and ask to speak to laban outside the door
you standing in the background then hell come out
and you can tell yer tale shell never guess what i
want en for and ill make up a few words about the
farmwork as a blind
this scheme was considered feasible and coggan
advanced boldly and rapped at mrs talls door mrs
tall herself opened it
i wanted to have a word with laban
hes not at home and wont be this side of eleven
oclock heve been forced to go over to yalbury since
shutting out work i shall do quite as well
i hardly think you will stop a moment and
coggan stepped round the corner of the porch to consult
oak
whos tother man then said mrs tall
only a friend said coggan
say hes wanted to meet mistress near churchhatch
tomorrow morning at ten said oak in a whisper
that he must come without fail and wear his best
clothes
the clothes will floor us as safe as houses said
coggan
it cant be helped said oak tell her
so coggan delivered the message mind het or
wet blow or snow he must come added jan tis
very particular indeed the fact is tis to witness her
sign some lawwork about taking shares wi another
farmer for a long span o years there thats what tis
and now ive told ee mother tall in a way i shouldnt
ha done if i hadnt loved ee so hopeless well
coggan retired before she could ask any further
and next they called at the vicars in a manner which
excited no curiosity at all then gabriel went home
and prepared for the morrow
liddy said bathsheba on going to bed that night
i want you to call me at seven oclock tomorrow in
case i shouldnt wake
but you always do wake afore then maam
yes but i have something important to do which
ill tell you of when the time comes and its best to
make sure
conclusion
bathsheba however awoke voluntarily at four nor
could she by any contrivance get to sleep again about
six being quite positive that her watch had stopped
during the night she could wait no longer she went
and tapped at liddys door and after some labour awoke
her
but i thought it was i who had to call you said
the bewildered liddy and it isnt six yet
indeed it is how can you tell such a story liddy
i know it must be ever so much past seven come to
my room as soon as you can i want you to give my
hair a good brushing
when liddy came to bathshebas room her mistress
was already waiting liddy could not understand
this extraordinary promptness  whatever is going on
maam she said
well ill tell you said bathsheba with a mischiev
ous smile in her bright eyes farmer oak is coming
here to dine with me today
farmer oak  and nobody else   you two alone
yes
but is it safe maam after whats been said asked
her companion dubiously a womans good name is
such a perishable article that    
bathsheba laughed with a flushed cheek and
whispered in liddys ear although there was nobody
present then liddy stared and exclaimcd  souls
alive what news it makes my heart go quite
bumpitybump
it makes mine rather furious too said bathsheba
however theres no getting out of it now
it was a damp disagreeable morning nevertheless
at twenty minutes to ten oclock oak came out of his
house and
went up the hill side
with that sort of stride
a man puts out when walking in search of a bride
and knocked bathshebas door ten minutes later
a large and a smaller umbrella might have been seen
moving from the same door and through the mist along
the road to the church the distance was not more
than a quarter of a mile and these two sensible persons
deemed it unnecessary to drive an observer must have
been very close indeed to discover that the forms under
the umbrellas were those of oak and bathsheba armin
arm for the first time in their lives oak in a greatcoat
extending to his knees and bathsheba in a cloak that
reached her clogs yet though so plainly dressed
there was a certain rejuvenated appearance about her  
  as though a rose should shut and be a bud again
repose had again incarnadined her cheeks and having
at gabriels request arranged her hair this morning as
she had worn it years ago on norcombe hill she seemed
in his eyes remarkably like a girl of that fascinating
dream which considering that she was now only three
or fourandtwenty was perhaps not very wonderful in
the church were tall liddy and the parson and in a
remarkably short space of time the deed was done
the two sat down very quietly to tea in bathshebas
parlour in the evening of the same day for it had been
arranged that 
farmer oak should go there to live since
he had as yet neither money house nor furniture worthy
of the name though he was on a sure way towards them
whilst bathsheba was comparatively in a plethora of all
three
just as bathsheba was pouring out a cup of tea
their ears were greeted by the firing of a cannon
followed by what seemed like a tremendous blowing of
trumpets in the front of the house
there said oak laughing i knew those fellows
were up to something by the look on their face 
oak took up the light and went into the porch
followed by bathsheba with a shawl over her head the
rays fell upon a group of male figures gathered upon the
gravel in front who when they saw the newlymarried
couple in the porch set up a loud hurrah and at
the same moment bang again went the cannon in the
background followed by a hideous clang of music from
a drum tambourine clarionet serpent hautboy tenor
viol and doublebass  the only remaining relics of the
true and original weatherbury band  venerable worm
eaten instruments which had celebrated in their own
persons the victories of marlhorough under the fingers
of the forefathers of those who played them now the
performers came forward and marched up to the
front
those bright boys mark clark and jan are at the
bottom of all this said oak  come in souls and
have something to eat and drink wi me and my wife
not tonight said mr clark with evident self
denial thank ye all the same but well call at a
more seemly time however we couldnt think of
letting the day pass without a note of admiration of
some sort if ye could send a drop of somat down to
warrens why so it is heres long life and happiness
to neighbour oak and his comely bride
thank ye thank ye all said gabriel a bit and
a drop shall be sent to warrens for ye at once i had
a thought that we might very likely get a salute of some
sort from our old friends and i was saying so to my
wife but now
faith said coggan in a critical tone turning to his
companions the man hev learnt to say my wife
in a wonderful 
naterel way considering how very youth
ful he is in wedlock as yet  hey neighbours all
i never heerd a skilful old married feller of twenty
years standing pipe my wife in a more used note
than a did said jacob smallbury it might have been
a little more true to nater ift had been spoke a little
chillier but that wasnt to be expected just now
that improvement will come wi time said jan
twirling his eye
then oak laughed and bathsheba smiled for she
never laughed readily now and their friends turned to
go
yes i suppose thats the size ot said joseph
poorgrass with a cheerful sigh as they moved away
and i wish him joy o her though i were once or
twice upon saying today with holy hosea in my
scripture manner which is my second nature ephraim
is joined to idols let him alone but since tis as tis
why it might have been worse and i feel my thanks
accordingly
